Baby Loss APPG and Maternity APPG: call for evidence on safe staffing (22 June 2022)

Summary

Recent reviews of maternity services in the UK have highlighted an urgent need to understand and tackle the maternity staffing crisis. As part of their 'Safe staffing' campaign, the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Baby Loss and APPG on Maternity are calling for evidence to understand the impact of staffing shortages on the quality and safety of maternity care, experience of parents and babies, and staff morale and motivation.

Content

The APPGs are inviting individuals and organisations to submit written evidence which addresses the following questions:

1. To what extent are maternity services affected by staffing shortages?
2. What are the principal factors that are causing staffing shortages?
3. What impact are staffing shortages having on the quality and/or safety of antenatal care?
4. What impact are staffing shortages having on the quality and/or safety of labour and birth?
5. What impact are staffing shortages having on the quality and/or safety of postnatal care?
6. What impact are staffing shortages having on the quality and/or safety of neonatal care?
7. What impact are staffing shortages having on the quality and/or safety of bereavement care?
8. What impact are staffing shortages having on the quality and/or safety of learning from incidents?
9. What impact are staffing shortages having on women and families experience of maternity care?
10. What impact are staffing shortages having on the morale and wellbeing of maternity staff?
11. What impact are staffing shortages having on the training and development of maternity staff?
12. What impact are staffing shortages having on the recruitment and retention of maternity staff?
13. What measures are necessary to address staffing shortages in the short term?
14. What measures are necessary to address staffing shortages in the medium to long term?