THE DORSET University Hospitals Trust has seen an increase in midwives, according to new NHS figures, despite warnings about a shortage of midwives in England.
The Royal College of Midwives has accused the Government of doing “far too little” to prevent what it calls a recruitment and retention crisis in the profession across England.
NHS Digital figures show the equivalent of 156.3 full-time midwives were working at University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust in December 2021 — 2.3 more than 154 at the same point in 2020.
In 2019 there were 163.7 midwives working for the trust's two predecessors.
The picture was not the same for the rest of the country — across England, there were the equivalent of 337 fewer full-time midwives working for the NHS than at the same point in 2020.
It means there are now 22,192 full-time midwives working on maternity wards nationally.
Full-time equivalent measures the proportion of full-time hours an employee is contracted to work, meaning the figures are likely to be lower than the actual headcount of staff — some of whom may work part time.
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