Hospitals forking out over £1,000 per shift to cover midwife shortages, study reveals

HOSPITALS are forking out more than £1,000 per shift to cover midwife shortages, a study has found.

NHS data shows since 2019 at least a dozen hospital trusts have paid out four figures for a stand-in worker to pick up a single shift.

Analysis suggests £112million was spent on agency and bank cover for mother-and-baby units last year because there were not enough permanent staff.

The cost was up by an estimated 22 per cent on the previous year. There are around 27,000 midwives working in England but leaders say they need at least 2,500 more.

A poll by the Royal College of Midwives found 72 per cent of units rely on costly bank or agency staff nearly every day.

The analysis was conducted by Labour.

Its Shadow Health Minister Karin Smyth said: “Millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money is being leached out of the health service, while pregnant mothers are turned away from maternity units due to a lack of midwives.”

More than £7billion was spent on extra rates for doctors, nurses, midwives and other staff in England in 2021/22.

NHS England said in June that use of agency staff is “expensive and offers poor value for money”.

Maternity safety is a critical NHS issue and hundreds of families have suffered devastation because of poor care.

Staff shortages were partly blamed for the East Kent Hospitals scandal where at least 45 babies died.

An investigation is also ongoing into failings in Nottingham involving more than 1,700 families.

Gill Walton, of the Royal College of Midwives, said: “Women and their families deserve and should expect to be cared for in services that are safe, adequately staffed and properly resourced.”