Former health secretary Sir Jeremy Hunt has urged the Government to reconsider cuts to allocated funding for maternity services, after warnings they will be a “wrecking ball” to women’s safety.
Under the changes by the Department of Health, £2 million will be ringfenced for maternity care for 2025/26, compared with £95 million in previous years.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the changes will “give more freedom and more flexibility” to independent care boards to choose how to spend the money.
Speaking in the Commons, Sir Jeremy, the Conservative MP for Godalming and Ash, said: “The chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) said that the axing of the maternity safety ringfenced pot would, she said, be a wrecking ball to the efforts being made to improve maternity safety.
“Just a single or a small group of babies spared lifelong disability will more than pay for the cost of this many times over. I know the Secretary of State cares about this deeply, so will he reconsider?”
Mr Streeting replied: “The funding is still there, but as many people have urged me, including (Sir Jeremy), we are taking the decision to give more freedom and more flexibility to independent care boards and systems and providers to determine how they can best spend NHS resources on services to improve patient care, safety and outcomes.
“I think everyone will know that maternity safety is understandably a priority for this Government, and of course, we expect and will hold the NHS to account to deliver on maternity safety standards.”
NHS England increased spending on maternity care by £95 million a year after the publication of an interim report into maternity care at the Shrewsbury and Telford trust in 2021.
The review, published in 2022, found that at least 201 babies and nine mothers could have survived with better care.
The £95 million will be given to the 42 integrated care boards, with £2 million ringfenced for maternity care, according to analysis by the Health Service Journal.
Gill Walton, the RCM’s chief executive, described the Government’s decision as “an insult to the women and families who have received care that has fallen short”.
In a statement last week, she said: “These budget cuts are more than shocking, they will rip the heart out of any moves to improve maternity safety.
“The Government has taken a wrecking ball to the work that’s being done up and down the country to improve maternity safety, something which is desperately needed.
“What they’ve done is an insult to the women and families who have received care that has fallen short, the same women and families who have campaigned so hard to make maternity safety a priority for successive governments.”
Elsewhere in health questions, Mr Streeting ruled out penalties for patients who miss appointments, for now.
This came in response to Conservative MP for Harrow East, Bob Blackman, who said: “One of the great frustrations for medical professionals and patients alike is those patients that have appointments, but don’t turn up.
“So what action is the Secretary taking to make sure that actually people that miss appointments are penalised in the system, and so that patients can actually get the treatment they need when they need it?”
Mr Streeting replied: “We’re absolutely convinced that better use of digital tools will enable us to reduce significantly the number of missed appointments, and also build in, and factor in, the likelihood of no-shows, so that we can reduce waste, eliminate inefficiency.
“I understand the case he’s making for penalties, that’s not a route we want to go down until we’ve made these improvements, and we’ll judge how effective they’ve been then.”
Earlier in the session, Seamus Logan, SNP MP for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East, pressed the Health Secretary on whether the NHS would be included in a trade deal with the US, adding: “Just give a direct answer to a direct question.”
Mr Streeting replied: “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – the NHS will be privatised over my dead body. This party founded the NHS as a publicly funded public service, free at the point of use.”
