UK Wedding News
12/10/2015
Closures to maternity units, budget cuts and training cuts, as well as a reduction in services, are all said to have impacted on the pressures.
The survey of senior midwives in the UK, revealed that over two-fifths of maternity units (41.5%) closed during the last year as they couldn't cope with the demand placed on them. This compares to 32.8% in 2014. On average, units closed their doors on 6.6 separate occasions in 2014, and 4.8 in 2015. The most times a single unit closed in a year was 33 times (2014) and 23 times (2015).
The closures reflect increased demands on services from increasingly complex births and staffing levels. This is supported by respondents; as 91.3% in 2015 (96.9% in 2014), admitted their unit is dealing with more complex cases this year. 29.6% of HoMs said they did not have enough midwives.
Reduced services are also to blame, the study found, with 11% of HoMs saying they had to reduce services within the past year. This compares to 10.9% in 2014. The reductions include the number of specialist midwives, fewer parent classes and less bereavement and breastfeeding support.
Services, such as home birth and postnatal care are also suffering, with 65.6% and 64.6% of HoMs, in 2014 and 2015 respectively, saying that on-call community staff have to be called in, in order to cover the labour and delivery suites.
In 2015, 35.8% said that this restricted the home birth service.
Some HoMs also reported having to provide additional midwifery services, but without any extra budget.
While reports have stressed the importance of staff training, the survey by RCM revealed that 20.3% of HoMs had been forced to reduce training for their staff. In 2014, this was 21.9%.
Elsewhere, 19.2% said they disagreed or strongly disagreed that maternity services were valued by their organisation's board.
Cathy Warwick, Chief Executive of RCM, said: "Our maternity services are overworked, understaffed, underfunded and struggling to meet the demands being placed on them. This is deeply worrying for the quality of care women are receiving, and the safety of services.
"Midwives and MSWs are too often keeping services afloat by working long hours, doing unpaid overtime and missing breaks. This is not a situation that leads to safe and high quality care for women and babies.
"All of this shows a system that is creaking at the seams and only able to deliver high quality care through the efforts and dedication of its staff. When services are operating at or beyond their capacity, safety is compromised and mistakes can, and almost certainly will be made, through no fault of the dedicated staff delivering the service."
She added: "The government is responsible for this and it is they who are letting down women, babies and their families, as well as the staff they purport to value. This is simply not acceptable."
(JP)
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Maternity Services Are Struggling – RCM
A survey by the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has highlighted a number of factors that are placing pressure on maternity services in the UK.Closures to maternity units, budget cuts and training cuts, as well as a reduction in services, are all said to have impacted on the pressures.
The survey of senior midwives in the UK, revealed that over two-fifths of maternity units (41.5%) closed during the last year as they couldn't cope with the demand placed on them. This compares to 32.8% in 2014. On average, units closed their doors on 6.6 separate occasions in 2014, and 4.8 in 2015. The most times a single unit closed in a year was 33 times (2014) and 23 times (2015).
The closures reflect increased demands on services from increasingly complex births and staffing levels. This is supported by respondents; as 91.3% in 2015 (96.9% in 2014), admitted their unit is dealing with more complex cases this year. 29.6% of HoMs said they did not have enough midwives.
Reduced services are also to blame, the study found, with 11% of HoMs saying they had to reduce services within the past year. This compares to 10.9% in 2014. The reductions include the number of specialist midwives, fewer parent classes and less bereavement and breastfeeding support.
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Services, such as home birth and postnatal care are also suffering, with 65.6% and 64.6% of HoMs, in 2014 and 2015 respectively, saying that on-call community staff have to be called in, in order to cover the labour and delivery suites.
In 2015, 35.8% said that this restricted the home birth service.
Some HoMs also reported having to provide additional midwifery services, but without any extra budget.
While reports have stressed the importance of staff training, the survey by RCM revealed that 20.3% of HoMs had been forced to reduce training for their staff. In 2014, this was 21.9%.
Elsewhere, 19.2% said they disagreed or strongly disagreed that maternity services were valued by their organisation's board.
Cathy Warwick, Chief Executive of RCM, said: "Our maternity services are overworked, understaffed, underfunded and struggling to meet the demands being placed on them. This is deeply worrying for the quality of care women are receiving, and the safety of services.
"Midwives and MSWs are too often keeping services afloat by working long hours, doing unpaid overtime and missing breaks. This is not a situation that leads to safe and high quality care for women and babies.
"All of this shows a system that is creaking at the seams and only able to deliver high quality care through the efforts and dedication of its staff. When services are operating at or beyond their capacity, safety is compromised and mistakes can, and almost certainly will be made, through no fault of the dedicated staff delivering the service."
She added: "The government is responsible for this and it is they who are letting down women, babies and their families, as well as the staff they purport to value. This is simply not acceptable."
(JP)
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