To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) total number and (b) full-time equivalent number of midwives worked in the NHS in (i) England and (ii) each region of England in (A) the most recent month for which data is available and (B) the same month in the preceding year.
This answer is the replacement for a previous holding answer.
Answered on
18 July 2022
NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) workforce statistics for England. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups, but excludes staff working in primary care, general practitioner surgeries, local authorities, and other providers. In December 2019, there were 22,061 full time equivalent (FTE) midwives working in HCHS in England. In April 2022, the most recent data available, there were 21,741 FTE midwives in HCHS in England.
The following table shows the headcount and number of FTE midwives working in the HCHS in England and each National Health Service region in March 2022 and March 2021.
HCHS midwives headcount | HCHS midwives, FTE | ||||
March 2021 | March 2022 | March 2021 | March 2022 | ||
England | 27,188 | 26,636 | 22,523 | 22,027 | |
East of England | 2,807 | 2,800 | 2,321 | 2,307 | |
London | 4,986 | 4,911 | 4,335 | 4,262 | |
Midlands | 5,064 | 5,015 | 4,147 | 4,076 | |
North East and Yorkshire | 4,214 | 4,033 | 3,475 | 3,331 | |
North West | 3,731 | 3,614 | 3,100 | 3,009 | |
South East | 3,882 | 3,793 | 3,121 | 3,041 | |
South West | 2,505 | 2,473 | 2,024 | 2,001 | |
Source: NHS Digital HCHS Workforce Statistics