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<p>The number of midwives has already increased by 21.5% since 2010 and by 5.8% in
the past year. The Government is further increasing the number of midwives by funding
an additional 160 new posts over three years to support the continued growth of the
maternity and neonatal workforce.</p><p>The Government and the National Health Service
are investing almost £35 million over three years to further improve maternity safety
across England which will support specialist training for staff, additional numbers
of midwives and support to ensure maternity services listen to and act on women’s
experiences to improve care.</p><p>The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets an ambition
to increase the number of nursing and midwifery training places to around 58,000 by
2031/32. We will work towards achieving this by increasing places to over 44,000 by
2028/29, with 20% of registered nurses qualifying through apprenticeship routes compared
to the current 9% and 5% of midwives to train through an apprenticeship, compared
to less than 1% currently.</p><p>The Plan also sets out the steps the NHS and its
partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of
the population over the next 15 years. The Government is backing this Plan with over
£2.4 billion over the next five years to fund additional education and training places.
This forms part of our ambition to expand the number of midwifery training places
from 3,778 in 2022, to 4,269 by 2028, providing a substantial uplift in the workforce
pipeline to meet future demands.</p><p>The NHS England's nursing and midwifery retention
programme aims to support organisations in assessing and implementing a set of interventions
aligned with the People Promise. This initiative focuses on promoting flexible working
arrangements, fostering a supportive, inclusive, and compassionate workplace environment.
For 2023/24, an investment of £5.75 million is being made in neonatal nurse quality
roles, funding at least 98 full-time equivalent posts to support staff retention and
learning from incidents, ensuring every trust has funding for this role.</p>
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