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 the mental health and wellbeing of midwives in the NHS, including access to occupational mental health services, support after traumatic experiences in maternity care, and measures to reduce burnout and stress in maternity services.

The health and wellbeing of all National Health Service staff is a top priority, and we are working to improve the support available to staff. NHS organisations have a responsibility to create supportive working environments for their staff, including access to high quality health and wellbeing support, occupational health provision, employee support programmes, and a focus on healthy working environments.

At a national level, NHS staff have access to the SHOUT helpline for crisis support alongside the Practitioner Health service for more complex mental health and wellbeing support, including trauma and addiction.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will shortly introduce a set of staff standards for NHS staff, covering issues such as working healthily and flexibly, and tackling violence, racism, and sexual harassment in the workplace. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will focus on making sure staff are better treated, have better training, more fulfilling roles, and hope for the future.