Sustained investment in safe staffing, so no midwife is expected to work beyond safe limits or without breaks. A fully funded plan to tackle racism in maternity care. These were the calls behind two key RCM motions carried at TUC Congress in Brighton this week.
TUC Congress is where 47 unions from across the UK, with 5.3 million members, meet each year to set TUC policy and campaigning agendas.
Midwives, maternity support workers and RCM staff were part of the delegation, bringing two of the issues raised most by members to the Congress floor.
Safe staffing = safe care
RCM member Zahra Ahmadian-Moghadam, who moved the safe staffing motion on behalf of the RCM, told delegates:
“Safe staffing is not an aspiration, it’s a patient safety requirement. Every day, midwives, maternity support workers and student midwives go to work aiming to provide the safest possible care to women, babies and families. But too often they are working in services where there are not enough staff to meet the needs
Congress heard statistics from a recent RCM members’ survey which showed that 77 per cent of maternity staff say their unit is not safely staffed and 93 per cent say staffing levels directly affect the quality of care they can provide.
Congress agreed that safe staffing is a patient safety, women’s health and workers’ rights issue. It called on the TUC to campaign for sustained investment in safe maternity staffing and estates and reaffirmed that no healthcare worker should be expected to routinely work beyond safe limits, or without breaks.
Racial inequality in maternity care
RCM member Janet Ballentine moved the motion calling for a fully funded programme to eliminate racial inequalities in maternity services. She told delegates:
“Racism in maternity services is both a public health crisis and a workplace crisis. It affects the care women receive, the outcomes they experience and the working lives of our members who provide that care.”
Citing the Baroness Amos Review, Janet said: “It exposes systematic racism, discrimination, unsafe staffing, poor workplace cultures and a lack of accountability across maternity services. These are not isolated incidents. They are a structural problem that requires structural solutions from government, NHS leaders and employers. “
Congress called on Government, NHS employers and all devolved nations to deliver a fully funded programme of action, including mandatory anti-racism training, investment in staffing to support personalised care, leadership that reflects Black women, families and staff, and better data to track progress.
With unanimous backing, both motions now carry the weight of the trade union movement.
Emma Jenkinson, RCM Director of Employment Relations, said:
“It matters that Congress backed these motions, it sends a clear message that the trade union movement is behind the RCM.’
“We’re going to keep pushing governments and employers across the UK, using every means we’ve got, until safe staffing and genuinely equitable care aren’t the exception, they’re the norm.”
