Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement in response to the latest report by Sands and Tommy’s Policy Unit and set out the actions that the Welsh Government is taking to address the specific shortcomings highlighted in relation to Wales?
The latest Saving Babies’ Lives Progress Report published by the Sands and Tommy’s Joint Policy Unit on 14 May 2024 summarised recent data on stillbirth, neonatal mortality and preterm birth from across the UK. Separate reports for each devolved nation also accompanied the main report.
The report confirmed a 17% reduction in stillbirth rates across Wales since 2010. However, it suggested that less progress has been achieved since 2018, with rates being higher in Wales than other UK nations. The report also indicated that neonatal mortality rates have declined by 3.7% since 2010, and in 2021 Wales had the lowest neonatal mortality rate across the UK.
Whilst it is difficult to draw statistical significance between the UK nations due to the relatively small numbers in Wales and year-to-year volatility, I recognise there is still more to do to ensure optimal experiences and outcomes for women, babies and their families across Wales, and the Welsh Government is committed to achieving these improvements.
Since 2023, a national perinatal optimisation programme (PERIPrem Cymru) has been underway to reduce mortality and brain injury and in turn, optimise outcomes for babies born early. Through this programme and the hard work of frontline clinicians, considerable improvements have already been achieved in the care and outcomes of babies across Wales. This includes increasing the proportion of eligible babies across Wales receiving individual perinatal optimisation interventions by 5%, which equates to 434 more life and brain-saving interventions being provided to vulnerable preterm babies across Wales in 2023.
In addition, a range of local and national improvement activities will be delivered through phase two of the Maternity and Neonatal Safety Support Programme (MatNeoSSP), with a clear focus on optimising experiences and outcomes for all families, reducing health inequalities and ensuring access to appropriate care, advice and support for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Women.
It is important that services have the right workforce and skill-mix in place to provide the high-quality care that women, families and their babies should expect to receive. It is for this reason that Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW), the strategic workforce body for NHS Wales, is working with NHS Wales services and key stakeholders to develop a comprehensive multidisciplinary perinatal workforce plan. The plan will encompass the training, recruiting and retaining of healthcare professionals and will help ensure NHS Wales has the right perinatal workforce in place, now and for future maternity and neonatal service provision. I understand this plan is expected to be finalised later this year.
I recognise the impact of bereavement and pregnancy loss across the family unit and sympathise deeply with the families across Wales who have lost a baby. The Welsh Government is committed to reducing pregnancy loss, improving neonatal outcomes and ensuring families across Wales receive appropriate and compassionate support.
Stillbirths and neonatal deaths are monitored through national oversight and assurance mechanisms, which includes quarterly monitoring of health board data as well as the outcomes from national audit processes. Key maternity and neonatal service baseline data was obtained through the discovery phase of MatNeoSSP which concluded in 2023, and it is against this assessment that improvements are being delivered within the next phase of the programme, supported by local maternity and neonatal safety champions in each health board.