RCM campaign secures funding from Government for jobs for newly-qualified midwives in England

The Royal College of Midwives has been calling on the Government to find a long-term solution to the graduate midwifery job crisis, after the RCM publicised data that showed one in three newly-qualified midwives hadn’t secured a position.

Follow the RCM’s campaigning alongside its members, and lobbying, the Government has now made a commitment that with an extra 1,000 new roles and existing vacant midwifery posts, there should be roles for every newly-qualified midwife in England by the end of the year. The RCM says it will not stop campaigning until this is a reality.

Following a meeting between the RCM and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, James Murray, last week, it has now been announced that there would be a £10 million package for trusts in England.

The funding will turn 1,000 vacant posts to jobs for newly-qualified midwives with a £10k funding boost per role.

The announcement comes at a difficult time for women and families, following the second highly critical report of maternity services in a week. The RCM says that while this goes some way to address the need for newly qualified midwives to get jobs, it does not address the current staffing emergency in England’s maternity services as it will not increase the number of maternity staff - the funding will come from converting existing roles.

Fiona Gibb, Director of Midwifery at the RCM, said: “For hundreds of newly-qualified midwives who have spent months wondering whether there would be a job waiting for them, this announcement will bring relief. We’re pleased that graduate midwives will get the opportunity they deserve to start their careers and join the workforce. Bringing newly-qualified midwives into the workforce is a win for safe care, as they will help strengthen the workforce and our ability to improve care for women and babies.

“We’ll keep a close eye on the implementation of this promise, so we can be sure every newly-qualified midwife has secured a role. We’ll check in with our members and monitor changes in the published numbers. We’ll also be raising this at the highest levels through the taskforce and the talks with the Health Secretary.”

Hannah Leonard, Chief Policy Officer at the RCM, said: “It’s great news. However, what concerns us is that this funding will not increase the number of staff providing care for women, babies and families. Safe maternity care depends on having enough midwives and enough maternity support workers working together. Shifting money from one part of the workforce to another is not the answer to the current staffing challenges facing maternity services, as highlighted in the reports published in the last week.

“The announcement devalues the role of maternity support workers and will result in midwives being under more pressure to cover the important role of maternity support workers.

“We’ll keep campaigning for the investment that safely staffed maternity services need. The Amos report makes clear that improving maternity safety requires sustained investment in the workforce. Today’s announcement is a start, but it cannot be the end. We urge the Government to listen and act on the serious issues affecting maternity services across the country.”

Funding is being found by re-allocating existing maternity budgets - converting maternity support worker funding, rather than investing in additional staff - so as one part of the maternity team grows, another shrinks. There are no proposals to increase the total number of maternity staff looking after women and babies, despite concerns raised in the Amos report that maternity needs sustainable funding in the workforce to improve maternity safety.

The RCM has been assured that from last year’s cohort, all who were originally only offered temporary jobs will have these converted into permanent positions. Of this year’s cohort, the RCM understands that 1,700 will secure roles through the normal turnover process, and the remaining 1,000 midwives will be offered new positions by the end of the year, created from vacant midwifery support worker roles and the new funding. This will mean that all this year’s newly-qualified midwives should be able to secure jobs. The RCM will be monitoring the implementation of this closely to check this is the case.