Almost Half of NHS Trusts in England Lack Funds Set Aside for Maternity Cover, Analysis Finds

Almost half of NHS trusts in England have neither a dedicated budget nor a policy allowing them to overspend to pay for maternity cover, according to an analysis by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy reported by The Guardian on 8 November 2026. The figure is 49%.

NHS trusts are the local organisations that run hospitals and community health services in England. Maternity cover refers to the staff arranged to do a colleague's work while that colleague is on maternity leave. The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, a professional, educational and trade union body for the UK's 67,000 chartered physiotherapists, gathered the figures by sending Freedom of Information requests to trusts. These are formal requests under UK law for information held by public bodies.

The responses also looked at which staff groups were covered by maternity arrangements. Of the trusts asked, 22% said their maternity cover arrangements did not extend to physiotherapy staff. Nine per cent said the same about nursing posts.

Women make up about 79% of the NHS physiotherapy workforce.