New standards for maternity care in Wales cannot be reached without investment in midwives and maternity support workers, the workforce’s main union has said.
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM)’s Wales branch has renewed its calls for safe staffing, improving work culture and better workforce planning in maternity services.
“It’s never been more crucial that we have the right levels of staff, in the right places, at the right time with the right education and training”
Julie Richards
These calls follow the publication, earlier this year, of the Welsh Government’s Quality Statement on Maternity and Neonatal Care and its Perinatal Engagement Framework.
The documents outlined what good maternity and neonatal services look like in Wales, and how Welsh health boards can make improvements.
RCM Wales welcomed the publication of these documents at the time, but warned that the country may currently lack the right staffing levels to facilitate care improvements.
On Monday (28 April), RCM Wales director Julie Richards reiterated these calls and said that neither of the Welsh Government’s documents could be fulfilled without “proper workforce planning”, and that they were both “dependent on investing in staff”.
“We need to be realistic,” she said, adding: “It’s never been more crucial that we have the right levels of staff, in the right places, at the right time with the right education and training.”
As well as further investment from the government, the RCM called on Welsh health boards to listen to and act upon feedback from midwives and maternity support workers, as well as mothers and families, as both documents had set out.
Ms Richards continued: “Sharing successes and good practice between health boards will undoubtedly support the maternity safety improvement drive in Wales.
“It’s also vital that those managing services, are really listening to staff, listening to their concerns, and acting upon them.
“Many of our members tell us that they feel stuck in a system that does not support them to deliver the best care they know they can.
“NHS employers need to provide a working environment that promotes the delivery of high-quality safe care.”
A Welsh Government spokesperson said, in response to RCM’s new statement: “Midwives have an invaluable role to play in driving service improvements across Wales, with all health boards staffed to a national recognised standard.
“Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) will soon publish a multidisciplinary perinatal workforce plan that will include detail on training, recruiting, and retaining healthcare professionals, ensuring an inclusive workforce culture.
“This will help NHS Wales to have the right perinatal workforce in place, now and for the future.”
