A virtual event on Friday 22 July from 9am to 12pm, being led by the Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership, will bring national experts to the district looking at how the maternity workforce can be supported.
The event has been set up for maternity colleagues across Bradford District & Craven to celebrate, show appreciation and support the maternity workforce.
Amanda Stanford, Chief Nurse at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust and Senior Responsible Officer for Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership Better Births Programme, who will also be chairing the event, said: “We know that our midwives and maternity service support workers play a vital role in caring for many women, babies and families each year across Bradford District and Craven. They have worked incredibly hard throughout the pandemic to ensure all families receive the support that they need as well as access to personalised care. The virtual event is an opportunity to put midwives and maternity service support workers in the spotlight and acknowledge their hard work.
“We’re aware of the staffing crisis in maternity is by far the greatest challenge faced by the service. In 2018, the Royal College of Midwives reported that for every 30 midwives qualifying, 29 leave the profession[1]. Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership Better Births programme is exploring ways in how we can increase recruitment into midwifery and more importantly, supporting our maternity workforce to make sure they feel happy and healthy at work.
“There’s also positive news with the NHS is also providing £127 million in new funding for maternity services across England over the next year, to help ensure safer and more personalised care for women, babies and families and to address the issues raised by the Ockenden Review[2].
“The conference will bring together some of the top experts in the field of maternity staff and an inspirational speaker, Steve Head. Steve is renowned for the work he has done with the NHS, he helps to build resilience, importance of celebrating success, and how staff can work under pressure in the NHS whilst still delivering world class health care.
“Staff will also have the opportunity to ask Gill Walton, CEO of the Royal College of Midwives, questions about maternity workforce. If you’d like to ask Gill a question, please email abbie.wild@nhs.net in advance of the event (before Thursday 30 June). We hope you can join us for this free virtual event so that together we can be inspired and explore solutions to protect our most precious asset – our maternity workforce.”
To register to attend the virtual event, please visit Eventbrite www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/supporting-our-maternity-workforce-tickets-320691957277