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 that culturally competent (a) midwifery and (b) obstetric training is available in the NHS; and how his Department assesses the effectiveness of these steps.

It is a priority for the Government to make sure that all women and babies receive the high-quality care they deserve, regardless of their background, location, or ethnicity. To deliver this, it is important that those working in maternity and neonatal services receive the required training needed to deliver culturally competent care.

While it is the responsibility of employers in the health system to ensure that their staff are trained to the required standards to deliver safe and effective treatment for patients, NHS England is taking steps to ensure that maternity healthcare professionals receive training on unconscious bias and culturally competent care through the Core Competency Framework and through provision of the Cultural Competence and Cultural Safety in Maternity Services e-learning course. Over 15,400 maternity staff have completed the e-learning module, which supports staff to better understand and meet the needs of diverse communities.

NHS England has also embedded equity-focused leadership development through the Perinatal Culture and Leadership Programme. All 150 maternity and neonatal units in England have participated in the programme. No assessment has been made on the effectiveness of these steps.