COMMENTS
1. At 22.11 on 10 December 2009, Jo wrote:
I do not believe that there is a shortage of midwives at all, there is a shortage of are POSTS across the country. Student midwives are frequently unable to be employed by the trust in which they have trained, due to the simple fact that despite having delivery suites and ante/post natal wards, there is simply not enough funding for more posts.
2. At 13.25 on 11 December 2009, Anon wrote:
I totally agree- it is the lack of jobs, not the lack of newly qualified midwives, that must be addressed firstly, followed by ensuring retention of new staff through good support.
3. At 17.35 on 11 December 2009, Michelle Jones wrote:
As a student near qualifying, I reflect on the initial recruitment process for my university. Why do they year on year recruit 35 new students? This is surely, not only a waste of tens of thousands of pounds worth of training but stress on the students and their families. We need security in relation to employment following our training. There is a clear shortage of staff and the strain on midwives is tremendous. Ultimately the people who suffer and do not receive the attention we strive, but fail, to provide are the women who access midwifery services.
4. At 12.09 on 12 December 2009, Linda Mearns wrote:
I totally agree. What we need at the end of our rigorous training is a guaranteed job in the trust we have trained at, not 6 months unemployment. If the trust does not need newly qualified midwives then they should be reducing the number of students they train. It is soul destroying to read about the shortages and know of newly qualified midwives including myself being unable to take up posts due to lack of government funding.
It is a big enough step going from student to 'newly qualified' without having a big time gap.
5. At 10.19 on 13 December 2009, Anon wrote:
It was exactly the same in the early 1990's. All of our set had to look outside of the hospital where we trained for jobs. As you can see no progress has been made!
6. At 12.32 on 13 December 2009, Anon, South central region wrote:
I am a newly qualified midwife. In my trust there are plenty of vacancies, unfortunately as quick as they are recruiting, experienced midwives are leaving, retiring or taking maternity leave. In addition 3 of the 6 the newly recruited midwives are planning to leave for other hospitals due to lack of support in their new posts.
7. At 14.07 on 21 December 2009, Anon, North Scotland wrote:
I am a newly qualified midwife and none of the 16 of us qualifying will be getting posts in our local trust. This is despite the fact that recent cutbacks have meant a closure of an AN/PN ward, the banning of bank staff, the closure of a pregnancy loss ward overnight to move staff to labour ward and, as a result of closures the creation of a PN waiting room in labour ward, as many as 4 or more women are made to sit in a room with their newborns to await a vacancy in the postnatal ward. I have had fellow students talk of pressing a buzzer when a woman is close to delivery and waiting 15 minutes only for the head to be crowning when a midwife arrives to answer said buzzer. This should not happen to a qualified midwife never mind a student. All this highlights the desperate need for more midwives in our trust, yet we have all been told that due to financial constraints none of us will be offered jobs in the near future. Myself and two of my colleagues have been lucky enough to be offered flexible posts in London allowing us to commute up and down on a fortnightly basis however as others have commented, this is not possible for many. I have had to wait 4 months before starting work, how long will it be until my colleagues gain employment, and will there be support for them having been out of practice for so long?
8. At 08.15 on 22 December 2009, anon wrote:
The RCM must campaign for a years contract at the end of training. This money should be ring fenced to protect those jobs. Senior managers want to employ their newly qualified midwives but are unable to due to financial constraints and constant cost savings. This investment needs to be secured giving the trusts the opportunity to be more flexible, keeping midwives for at least a year then waiting for substantive posts to be come available, which they inevitably do. Without this guarantee senior midwives are powerless to retain their own newly qualified staff.
9. At 16.31 on 22 December 2009, Anne, Northwest England wrote:
I am a post RN (short course) student midwife due to qualify in April 2010. Having given up a nursing post to train as a midwife, I am now told I face unemployment or having to apply elsewhere- not an easy option with a family! And I would also lose the increments I have worked hard for over the years. It is a ridiculous situation to be in when my hospital trust is so obviously short of midwives, but has no money to employ us!
10. At 17.15 on 4 March 2009, Lola wrote:
I'm a first year midwifery student. Reading this scares me as I’ve got family commitments and need to be employed after qualifying. I guess all that is left to do is hope for the best when I qualify
11. At 19.56 on 5 March 2010, Anon Scotland wrote:
I couldn't agree more - we don't need more midwives, we need more
jobs! In Scotland that job situation for NQMs is dire. I qualified in
Sep 2009 and was lucky enough to get a job at my training trust within
4 months. Some of my cohorts are still waiting. Spending such a long
time between qualifying and working is not good in terms of keeping
skills up to date and self confidence. It seems to be fine if you are
mobile and can move to where the jobs are, but if you have family and
are settled then it's not so easy.
12. At 19.35 on 26 March 2010, Christy Greenslade wrote:
I have tried to get onto the midwifery course on two occasions now and sadly I have not been offered a place. It really annoys me when I hear that people have dropped out of university in their first year, when I am willing to give it 100%.
