Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the extent of shortages of midwives in Essex; and whether he plans to take steps in response to that matter.
No recent estimate has been made as regional vacancy data for midwives is not collected centrally.
We have committed to expand midwifery training places by 3,650 over a four-year period. Health Education England has worked with stakeholders to support this commitment and expects to achieve an additional 1,000 places this year and the overall target by the end of 2022/23. In addition, we have announced £95 million to support the recruitment of 1,200 midwives and 100 consultant obstetricians to ensure safe staffing levels and personalised midwifery care.