To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent guidance his Department has issued on safe staffing limits for nurses qualified in intensive neonatal care in a high-risk neonatal unit.

NHS England recently completed an update to the Neonatal Critical Care service specification. Service specifications set national standards which all commissioned providers of Neonatal Critical Care services are required to meet. The updated specification for Neonatal Critical Care outlines nurse staffing requirements for the three different levels of neonatal care, including high-risk neonatal intensive care services. The specification requires neonatal units to meet the British Association of Perinatal Medicine’s (BAPM) standards in relation to safe staffing limits for registered nurses with a neonatal Qualification in Specialty. The service specification is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Neonatal-critical-care-service-specification-March-2024.pdf

Furthermore, the BAPM standards are available at the following link:

https://www.bapm.org/resources/service-and-quality-standards-for-provision-of-neonatal-care-in-the-uk