Received from: RCM
Congress notes that maternity services across the UK are being pushed beyond safe limits by years of understaffing, underinvestment and increasing demand. Midwives, maternity support workers and student midwives are working in conditions that are neither safe nor sustainable.
Congress is alarmed that 45 per cent of midwives reported experiencing burnout often or always. A recent RCM survey showed that 93 per cent of maternity staff said staffing levels directly affect the quality of care they can provide. During the survey week, 77 per cent said their unit was unsafely staffed. At the same time, maternal deaths are now 20 per cent higher than a decade ago.
Congress recognises that safe staffing is not simply a workforce issue; it is a patient safety issue, a women’s health issue and a workers’ rights issue. Staff cannot continue to carry the burden of systemic failure while employers and governments fail to provide the investment needed to deliver safe care.
Congress therefore calls on the TUC to campaign alongside affiliated unions for governments across the UK to deliver sustained investment in safe maternity staffing and invest in safe and modern maternity estates, and ensure staff have the time and resources to deliver equitable, high-quality care.
Congress further calls on the TUC to reaffirm that no healthcare worker should be expected to routinely work beyond safe limits or without breaks, and that protecting the wellbeing of maternity staff is essential to protecting the safety of every woman, baby and family who depends on NHS maternity services.
Royal College of Midwives