Baroness Wyld

The results from NHS England’s Maternity and Neonatal Infrastructure Review, commissioned in 2023, showed that there are 747 parental accommodation rooms within neonatal units nationally. NHS England does not hold data on the standard of these rooms. However, there is undoubtedly variation in the provision of parental accommodation at neonatal units across England and we know that not all maternity hospitals are currently able to offer adequate accommodation for families due to the historic undercapitalisation across the National Health Service. A summary of the findings report can be found on the NHS.UK website. Data on the number of parental accommodation rooms is in the table attached.

As a first step towards improving the NHS maternity and neonatal estate, we are investing £131 million through the 2025/26 Estates Safety Fund to address critical safety risks on the maternity and neonatal estate, enabling better care for mothers and their newborns. The funded works will deliver vital safety improvements, enhance patient and staff environments, and support NHS productivity by reducing disruptions across NHS clinical services.

In addition, the Government is backing the NHS with over £4 billion in operational capital in 2025/26, with a further £16.9 billion to be allocated to integrated care boards and providers over the following four years, enabling systems to allocate funding to maternity and neonatal estates services where this is a local priority.

NHS England expects to shortly publish the findings of their survey of maternity and neonatal estates, which examined compliances against the current estates’ standards, including the requirements of neonatal parental accommodation.