NHS pay review body: twenty-sixth report 2012 - Official Documents

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the training and development requirements to maximise the midwifery contribution in
future. SHAs were reviewing the supply of local midwives, including attrition rates from
training, and were developing appropriate recruitment, retention and return strategies.
Our Comment
4.52 We noted in our Twenty-Fifth Report the RCM’s concerns about the shortages of NHS
midwives. We are grateful for the further analysis by the RCM and the Department of
Health’s commentary on the activity underway to manage the midwifery workforce.
We consider this an issue largely of supply – specifically the accurate assessment of the
numbers of midwives required, the impact of NHS reforms in England on these workforce
requirements and determining the required level of training commissions. We conclude
from the evidence that further action is needed to manage more effectively workforce
and training planning to ensure an adequate supply of midwives in the right locations. At
this stage, the evidence does not point to widespread national recruitment and retention
problems which require a national pay response. However, we remind employers that,
where local recruitment and retention difficulties are experienced, local RRP can be used
when supported by robust evidence that a pay solution is required.