'We're Being Stretched to Breaking Point': Nine in 10 Midwives Say Staffing Levels Are Affecting Care
The Royal College of Midwives survey found that 93% of midwives believe staffing levels directly affect the care staff can deliver, with 77% reporting their ward was not safely staffed in a single recent week.
More than nine in 10 midwives say unsafe staffing levels are directly impacting the quality of care they provide for women and babies, according to a major new poll.
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The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) survey of more than 3,500 members found that 93% believe staffing levels directly affect the care staff can deliver, with 77% reporting their ward was not safely staffed in a single recent week.
More than three quarters of midwives have considered leaving the profession in the past year, with staffing levels, safety concerns, work-life balance and the impact on their mental health among the top reasons.
When asked what would make them stay, two thirds said more staff and 61% said more money, highlighting the scale of the crisis.
Robbie Turner, chief membership officer at the RCM, said midwives are not leaving because they no longer care, but because the system will not let them provide the care they want to give.
Read more: NHS trusts face ‘perilous’ financial situation with deficit of £780 million last year
Mr Turner said that three in four midwives considering leaving is not a staffing problem, but a “staffing emergency”, with exhausted staff, inadequate numbers and no time for breaks still the daily reality across the UK.
The poll comes as two separate independent inquiries into maternity care are due to be published this week.
Senior midwife Donna Ockenden will publish her report on Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust later this week following an independent review involving almost 2,500 families.
The final report from the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation, led by Baroness Amos and examining 12 trusts, is also set to be published later this month. An interim report found NHS maternity services were failing women and babies through a reluctance to admit mistakes, a lack of kindness and pervasive discrimination.
The survey also found 77% of midwives worked unpaid overtime in a single week, with one in five working five hours beyond their contracted hours, and 38% said they did not get 11 hours of uninterrupted rest every 24 hours as regulations require.