Recent statistics from the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) have announced that it believes only four of England’s ten Strategic Health Authorities will reach its target of one midwife for every 28 births. According to the BBC news website, the RCM believes that the government needs to employ an extra 5,000 midwives by 2012 to ensure that the level of care labouring women receive is both of a safe standard and of high quality.
The concern that these statistics bring is that the strain on the resources of the midwifery might lead to a reduced standard of care and lead to an overstretched workforce making mistakes and not being able to give the attention to detail that both prospective and new mothers require with antenatal and postnatal support.
Medical professionals have a duty of care to their patients and if they fall below the standards expected of them then there is a risk that they may be found to be negligent which could result in patients suffering injury.
However, there are greater demands on maternity services due to the rising fertility rate in the country and the NHS has the difficult task of balancing these demands with the financial resources at their disposal.
If you believe that you have suffered an injury as a result of medical negligence then you could have a claim for compensation. Contact us on 0800 634 7575 if you think you might have a claim.