The RCM survey reveals it is believed there are not enough midwives to
cope with demand - and further staffing cuts are expected.
The findings of the consultation, which surveyed heads of midwifery across the UK, have been branded ‘deeply worrying’.
Almost two thirds (60%) of respondents said they
don’t have enough staff to cope, while over a third (37%) said that they
expected to be forced to cut staffing levels even further over the next
year.
Cathy Warwick, RCM general secretary, said: ‘These
results are deeply disturbing given the steeply rising birthrate and
increasing needs of women.
‘Overworked and understaffed maternity units are unsafe maternity units.
‘Until now, maternity staffing numbers have simply
failed to keep pace with the ever-rising number of births, but now we
face the prospect of maternity staff, including possibly midwives,
actually losing their jobs.
‘That is what heads of midwifery, who run maternity
units up and down the country, are telling us, and that worries me very
much.’
A total 79% of those surveyed reported that they
currently have job vacancies, over two thirds of which have been
unfilled for more than three months.
Jon Skewes, RCM director of employment relations and
development, said the most likely reason for this is trusts ‘delaying or
freezing recruitment’ as a money-saving measure, but this would not be
the case for every vacancy.
The number of births in England has increased from 563,744 in 2001, to 687,007 in 2010 and is expected to continue to rise.
Two-thirds of respondents said this increase was contributing to the difficulty in coping with demand.
The survey was carried out as part of the
RCM’s evidence to the NHS Pay Review Body.
Of the 173 heads of midwifery across the UK who were sent the questionnaire, a total of 82 responded.
No one from the Department of Health was available to comment.
