Midwives urge commitment to training numbers
Janaki Mahadevan
Monday, September 12, 2011
The Royal College of Midwives has urged the government to stand by its commitment to maintain the number of midwifery training places, after the Labour Party reported that around 2,000 university places for nursing, midwifery and clinical healthcare have been cut.
Freedom of Information requests by Labour revealed that there were 29,332 students in 2010 compared to 27,410 this year. In London there were 400 fewer places while in the West Midlands 509 places had been dropped.
In response to the figures, Cathy Warwick, general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives, said: "If these figures prove to be correct we will be deeply concerned. Just a few months ago the government promised to maintain the number of midwifery training places. I will be urgently seeking clarification and reassurance on this from the government."
While not challenging the figures, the Department of Health said that near record numbers of nurses and midwives are working in the NHS.
A spokesman said: "As a result of the government's decision to protect the NHS budget, near record numbers of nurses and midwives are working in the NHS. Strategic Health Authorities are working to ensure that student nursing commissions are appropriate to meet local demand in their areas.
"In future, Healthcare Education England, advised by the Centre for Workforce Intelligence, will provide a national overview of workforce planning to ensure that the plans of local NHS service providers are robust and deliver the high quality workforce the NHS relies upon."
