PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Maternity Services: Finance (10 October 2022)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much of the £127 million announced by the Government on 24 March 2022 to support the maternity NHS workforce and increase neonatal care has been allocated.

Asked by:
Feryal Clark (Labour)

We have allocated £45 million to neonatal capital funding projects over the next three years. This will fund nine schemes in five regions with a bespoke approach based on the value of the capital scheme. We are also allocating £50 million for staffing in the second half of 2022/23 and in 2023/24. Trusts were invited to develop plans to bid for resources for obstetric leadership capacity, bereavement midwives and maternity support workers, with other funding being allocated to projects such as return to midwifery programmes and international recruitment.

Operational Delivery Networks have worked with trusts to develop plans for the workforce in neonatal services. Allocations have been agreed and funding for 2022/23 will be released in November with further allocations in early 2023/24. The remaining funding has been used for other projects to improve the safety and personalisation of perinatal care. These include increasing funding to Local Maternity and Neonatal Systems, the establishment of the Perinatal Culture and Leadership Programme and initiatives to improve staff retention in maternity services.

Answered by:
Dr Caroline Johnson (Conservative)
26 October 2022