NMC response to the Health and Social Care Committee's report on the Safety of Maternity Services in England

Responding to today’s Health and Social Care Committee’s report on the Safety of Maternity Services in England, Andrea Sutcliffe CBE, Chief Executive and Registrar at the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), said:

“The impact of poor maternity care on women and their families can be devastating. But such dreadful experiences are not inevitable. As the Committee highlights, all of us working in maternity services need to focus on delivering positive and sustainable improvements necessary to deliver safe, kind and effective care every time.

“As the professional regulator for key members of the maternity multi-disciplinary team, the NMC has an important role to play, particularly in supporting the implementation of our Future Midwife standards in midwifery education and practice.

“I welcome the Committee’s recommendation that we should focus on helping to end the blame culture. We will always act to protect the public where necessary, but professionals must feel confident about speaking up when mistakes happen so they don’t happen again. Our new approach to fitness to practise and the promise of regulatory reform mean we can do just that.

“The families whose cherished dreams have been shattered and maternity services staff who want to provide great care deserve nothing less.”

ENDS

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