A workforce planning review is set to review the number of nurses and midwifes in the industry, reports bioportfolio.com.

In a statement made last week, the Department of Health said it had asked the NHS Centre for Workforce Intelligence "as a priority, to undertake an in-depth review of the demand and supply issues and workforce modelling for the nursing and midwifery workforce, working all relevant parties."

A review of the workforce could help out those in nurse manager jobs by promoting backline, office nurses into more hands-on frontline roles thus improving care for patients across the nation.

The introduction of a review follows lobbying by organisations such as the Royal College of Midwives. RCM general secretary Cathy Warwick welcomed the move.

"This has been in the pipeline for some time. It will be a detailed piece of work and we have been involved in discussions," she explained.

Professor Warwick said it was vital the review looked at ensuring the right ratios of experienced midwives to those newly-qualified, or recently-qualified, were in place.

In the run up to the election, prime minister David Cameron has pledged to increase midwife numbers by up to 3,000 but recently the government told nursingtimes.net that it has not yet set a target for midwife recruitment.