Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support sustainable working patterns for midwives in NHS maternity services.

We want to move the National Health Service toward a culture where flexible working opportunities are much more widely available and there is support for employees to be able to work more sustainably.

A number of actions have already been taken to support flexible working in the NHS including changes to terms and conditions and training for staff and line managers to help drive culture change and support uptake. NHS England continues to support organisations in the implementation of effective use of e-rostering systems. E-rostering can allocate individuals to shifts based on their working patterns and preferences, supporting more predictable shift patterns, especially when paired with a team-based rostering approach.

Additionally, as set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment this year which will aim to ensure NHS staff feel well supported in the workplace.