Streeting accused of ‘betrayal’ over maternity funding plan

Campaigners have questioned Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s commitment to maternity safety after his department watered down funding levels.

Almost £100m was invested into improving maternity safety annually following the publication of an interim report into poor care at the Shrewsbury and Telford NHS trust. But changes by the Department of Health mean that just £2m of the funding is guaranteed to be spent on maternity care this year.

Rhiannon Davies, who lost her daughter due to poor care at the trust, called the decision “an absolute betrayal by Wes Streeting”.

The Department of Health said local health leaders would be given the money to decide how best to spend it.

The Royal College of Midwives described the funding decision as taking “a wrecking ball” to maternity safety.

The review into maternity care at the Shrewsbury and Telford trust, published in 2022, found that at least 201 babies and nine mothers could have survived with better care.

Following the publication of an interim report, in March 2021, NHS England said it would increase spending on maternity care by £95m a year.

At the time, it said the money would be used to hire as many as 1,000 midwives and around 80 consultant obstetricians.

Some of the money was also to be spent on allowing consultants and midwives to train together – a key recommendation of the initial report, by senior midwife Donna Ockenden – as well as allocating money for the NHS to recruit from overseas.

But analysis of NHS funding for this year, carried out by the Health Service Journal, showed that just £2m of the £95m was to be ringfenced for 2025/26.

The rest of the money will be given to the 42 Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) that decide how the health service funding is allocated locally across England.

Responding to the change, Ms Ockenden posted on social media: “How has this happened? So disappointed. Talking to colleagues across perinatal services, the sense of disappointment is profound.”

If the ICBs decide to spend the money they’ve been allocated on maternity care, there won’t be a funding cut.

But some maternity staff have labelled the change as disastrous, fearing that taking away the funding protection will mean maternity budgets will be cut.

“Removing the ringfencing will take us back years,” said a senior midwife.

The Royal College of Midwives said it was “utterly shocked” by Streeting’s decision, adding it was “short-sighted” and “utterly unacceptable”.

“These budget cuts… will rip the heart out of any moves to improve maternity safety,” said chief executive Gill Walton.

“The government has taken a wrecking ball to the work that’s being done up and down the country to improve maternity safety, something which is desperately needed.”

Rhiannon Davies, who alongside Kayleigh Griffiths was instrumental in getting the Shrewsbury inquiry commissioned, was also strongly critical of the health secretary.

The money, she wrote, “was to ensure others avoided the lifelong pain we have to endure without our children”.

The Department of Health and Social Care said maternity care remained a top priority for the health service.

In a statement, it said: “The same level of funding is still being delivered as part of wider ICB allocations, giving local healthcare leaders – who are best placed to decide how to serve their local community – more flexibility.

“We are clear that too many women are not receiving the safe, personalised and compassionate maternity care they deserve, but through our Plan for Change, this government is determined to change that.”

The department said it would help hospital trusts to make rapid improvements and train thousands more midwives.