§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will meet representatives of midwives working in the Merseyside regional health authority's area to discuss their grievances concerning regrading.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeI shall be meeting national representatives of the Royal College of Midwives, including the president and the general secretary, on Wednesday 7 December. I cannot intervene directly in individual grievances which can be resolved by employing86W authorities following the agreed appeal process. I suspect that much of the sense of grievance felt by some midwives in Merseyside is caused by misunderstanding of the basis of the grading exercise which the Royal College of Midwives and other trades unions agreed to.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health whether any account was taken of length of service or clinical experience when regrading midwives by the Mersey regional health authority.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe Health Service trades unions and management agreed that the grading of midwifery posts should be determined on the basis of the duties and responsibilities of postholders at 1 April 1988. The grading definitions reflect the different levels of clinical experience and responsibility called for in different posts and the grades allocated to midwives therefore take account of their clinical skills. Because the agreement entered into by the Royal College of Midwives and the other parties specified that posts and not individuals were being graded, length of service was not taken into account in determining grading.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many deliveries were carried out by midwives in each of the last five years; and what percentage this is of the total number of deliveries.
§ Mr. MellorWe do not hold this information centrally.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what account is taken when regrading midwives of the training and completion of a certificate in midwifery by practitioners.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeAll holders of midwifery posts are required to possess the qualification of registered midwife (RM) and this is the only registrable qualification which is needed to practise as a midwife. Possession of this qualification entitles the holder of a midwifery post to be placed at least as grade D in the new grading structure —agreed by Health Service trade unions and management.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many years' experience a midwife needs before she achieves grade G.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeHealth Service trades unions and management have agreed that grading should be determined by the duties and responsibilities of the post held by the individual not by the number of years he or she may have spent in midwifery practice. Therefore the grading definitions do not prescribe periods of experience.