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Italian midwives fly over to ease pressure in Walsall

Midwives from Italy are being flown in to Walsall to help ease the burgeoning workload on staff.

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The ratio of midwives to births in the borough is still way above the national guidelines but health bosses have assured the current situation is safe.

Nevertheless Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust have recruited 21 extra pairs of hands from Italy which will be arriving from September.

Currently the midwife to birth ratio is one to 35 compared to a target of one in 28 – the number recommended by the Royal College of Midwives (RCM).

Currently, only Wales and the North East are hitting this target.

Kathryn Halford, director of nursing at the Trust, said: "There were a number of red risks around staffing levels but the board has agreed investment.

"As a result we have successfully recruited from Italy.

"The number of new midwives will be increased by 21 who are joining us from September.

"The national recommendation is for a midwife to birth ratio of one in 28 so there is still work to do."

But Trust chief executive Richard Kirby argued that the current operating levels were safe.

He said: "Originally we had a ratio of one to 38, one to 39, which was clearly putting too much pressure on our midwifery teams.

"The judgement we made was that the current level was a safe level.

"That was based on professional advice we took and it was also based on outcomes we have seen from the service.

"It is also based on the numbers of births a year we expect to deliver which is between 4,500 and 5,000."

Mr Kirby added: "We need to keep this under close review.

"We should ask what we need to do more around this as we look at 2016/17.

"We need to keep it under close scrutiny.

"There will be more midwives employed in the trust by the end of the year which is a good step."

The trust confirmed the recruitment during a monthly update on nursing and staffing levels for June - the latest figures available.

It showed that around 94 per cent of midwife and nurse posts were filled by permanent employees while the trust actually had more care staff on duty than planned during the month - showing a 104 per cent fill rate during the day and a 119 per cent rate during night shifts.

Mr Kirby said: "If the percentages are low then we should be worried if we don't have enough nurses on wards like we should have.

"If we are above 100 per cent we will not be questioned on safety and quality but we need to question what costs are being incurred."

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