Fix the staffing emergency, don’t shrink maternity services says the RCM
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has warned that closing maternity units is not the answer to the pressures facing services, after the NHS Alliance suggested up to 20 of England’s 155 consultant-led units may need to close or change their role. The comments, from the alliance’s director for acute care, Matthew Hopkins, singled out […]
‘Graduate midwives are being left on the sidelines’: RCM Cymru launches petition calling for end to job crisis
63 newly qualified midwives left jobless in Wales while overstretched maternity services struggle with staffing shortages Royal College of Midwives launches petition demanding Welsh Government action, warning that Wales risks losing a generation of midwives it has spent millions educating ‘I cried for hours’: Graduate midwife speaks of heartbreak of not securing a role despite […]
Basildon midwives win almost £750,000 after exposure to dangerous levels of nitrous oxide
More than 120 midwives and maternity staff at Basildon University Hospital, including over 80 Royal College of Midwives (RCM) members, have won almost £750,000 after breathing in nitrous oxide at work at up to 30 times the legal limit. Staff were exposed to high levels of the gas – widely used for pain relief in […]
RCM urges Health Secretary to restart NHS pay talks or risk losing more midwives
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) is today calling on the Health Secretary Yvette Cooper to urgently resume stalled talks on reforming the NHS pay structure. The trade union says every month of delay is pushing more midwives and maternity support workers out of the profession, at a time when services can least afford to lose them. The RCM is one of 14 […]
RCM Scotland: “The problem was never the number of health boards – it’s the lack of priority given to maternity care”
The Royal College of Midwives has responded to the Scottish Government’s announcement that Scotland’s 14 territorial health boards will be dissolved and replaced by two new boards, warning that maternity services must not be lost in the reorganisation. Jaki Lambert, RCM’s Director for Scotland, said the announcement was “thin on detail” and called for a […]
63 newly qualified midwives still without jobs despite “desperate need for maternity staff”, says RCM Cymru
RCM Cymru has expressed disbelief that 63 newly qualified midwives in Wales remain without NHS jobs, despite continued warnings to the Welsh Government about the “desperate need” for maternity staff. In June, the Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) streamlining process left 68 graduate midwives without jobs to go to because there were fewer roles available. Today […]
94% of midwives in Wales say unsafe staffing levels affects the quality of care for women and babies
New survey data from the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) Cymru has laid bare the scale of the safety crisis in NHS Cymru maternity services – with 94% midwives saying staffing levels directly affect the care they can provide to women and babies. The findings, from a survey of 219 midwives, maternity support workers and […]
RCM calls for Northern Ireland maternity strategy to be brought forward without delay
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) is supporting calls for urgent action on maternity services in Northern Ireland, after Professor Mary Renfrew, author of a landmark 2024 review, said the opportunity for reform “has been missed.” Nearly two years on, with no maternity strategy in place since 2018, the RCM says mothers, babies and families […]
RCM campaign secures funding from Government for jobs for newly qualified midwives in England
The Royal College of Midwives has also secured a commitment from the Government on safe staffing talks Government funding for conversion of 1,000 jobs for newly qualified midwives A strengthened workforce will help deliver safer care for women and babies Newly qualified midwives in England will have access to an extra 1,000 new roles by the end of 2026 after the RCM secured funding from the Government following a hard-fought campaign. The RCM has been calling on the Government to find a long-term solution to the graduate midwifery […]
The RCM responds to Baroness Amos’ national maternity and neonatal review
Chief Executive Gill Walton responds to today’s publication of Baroness Amos’s national maternity and neonatal review, saying it confirms that chronic understaffing and a decade of under-investment has left midwives unable to consistently deliver safe care for women and babies. Gill said: “Behind this report are families who lost babies, who were not listened to […]