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 ensure (a) safe and (b) efficient staffing levels in maternity units.

The Government has added £165 million of recurring investment to the annual maternity budget since 2021, to grow and support the maternity workforce and improve neonatal care.

The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets out the steps the National Health Service and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. It will put the workforce on a sustainable footing for the long term. The plan is backed with over £2.4 billion over the next five years to fund additional education and training places over five years. This is on top of increases to education and training investment, reaching £6.1 billion over the next two years.