About this role
Job summary
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a passionate and motivated midwife to join our maternity team in a role dedicated to reducing health inequalities and improving outcomes for women, birthing people, babies and families.
We are looking for an enthusiastic individual who is committed to making a real difference by identifying and addressing barriers to accessing maternity care, supporting our most vulnerable communities and championing equitable, personalised and inclusive services. This is a fantastic opportunity to influence positive change, develop innovative approaches to care and work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams and community partners to ensure every family has the best possible start.
As a team we are working hard to ensure we put women and families at the heart of everything we do. We are on an exciting improvement journey and can offer you a rewarding, flexible and supportive role providing a full range of midwifery care.
Main duties of the job
The Perinatal Health Inequalities Specialist Midwife will provide senior clinical, strategic, and professional leadership reduce avoidable inequalities in access, experience, and improve outcomes across the perinatal period for women, birthing people, babies, and families in East Kent.
The postholder will work in partnership with communities, service users, staff and multi-agency colleagues to identify barriers to equitable perinatal care and develop, implement and evaluate sustainable improvements. They will ensure that the voices and lived experience of women and families who are least likely to be heard directly shape service design, care pathways and quality-improvement priorities.
East Kent has communities experiencing significant deprivation, coastal and rural isolation, transport and digital exclusion, language barriers, insecure housing, migration and asylum-related challenges, and varying levels of trust in statutory services. The postholder will lead work that responds to these local needs, including engagement with refugee and asylum-seeking families, Nepali-speaking communities, women and families who book late or do not consistently engage with care, and people experiencing complex social, psychological or practical barriers.
The role will operate across community and hospital settings and will support the Consultant Midwife to provide an equity lens to perinatal strategy, clinical governance, quality improvement, education and patient experience.
About us
We are one of the largest hospital trusts in England, with five hospitals and community clinics serving a local population of around 800,000 people. Our vision is 'great healthcare from great people'. Everything we do is guided by our values: 'People feel cared for, safe, respected and confident that we are making a difference'. We have a new way of working at East Kent Hospitals, called 'We care'. It's about empowering frontline staff to lead improvements day-to-day. We're looking for compassionate people to be part of our improvement journey for the patients, families and carers we care for every day.
Please note that if you require a Certificate of Sponsorship to work in the UK you must declare this on your application form, even if you currently have a certificate of sponsorship or a work permit for another role and are already working in the country. Please note we are only able to sponsor candidates for a Skilled Worker Visa for roles that are eligible at the time of application.
Job description Job responsibilities
Key responsibilities
Clinical leadership and expert perinatal practice
Act as an expert resource for colleagues on health inequalities, barriers to engagement, trauma-informed care, culturally safe care, personalised care, and reasonable adjustments.
Provide senior midwifery advice in complex situations where there are concerns regarding access to care, communication, engagement, care coordination or potential inequity.
Support the development of individualised, trauma-informed and culturally responsive care plans for women and families with complex circumstances.
Promote early identification of women who may require additional support, ensuring that referral pathways are clear, proportionate and non-stigmatising.
Work collaboratively with community- and hospital-based midwives to improve continuity, communication, and safe transitions between services.
Maintain clinical credibility through an agreed clinical component of the role. This should be purposeful and equity-focused, for example through targeted clinics, outreach, complex-care coordination or observational work across services, rather than routine redeployment to fill staffing gaps.
Ensure all care and advice are provided in accordance with the NMC Code, Trust policies, safeguarding requirements, information governance and current national guidance.
Advocate for women and families while balancing autonomy, informed choice, infant wellbeing and safeguarding responsibilities.
Reducing barriers to access and engagement
Identify practical, cultural, structural and service-related barriers that prevent women and families from accessing timely perinatal care.
Lead the development of targeted, accessible approaches to early booking, antenatal screening, maternity education, birth preparation, postnatal support and infant feeding.
Work with services to reduce missed appointments and late presentation through flexible, accessible and proportionate approaches, rather than punitive or exclusionary processes.
Support accessible communication, including professional interpreters, translated information, easy-read materials, visual resources, and alternative communication methods.
Promote the use of professional interpreting services for all sensitive or clinical conversations. Children, family members and friends must not be used as interpreters except in immediate emergencies where no safe alternative is available.
Work with local partners to address barriers such as transport, travel costs, lack of phone credit or internet access, unfamiliarity with appointment systems, and difficulty navigating services.
Ensure pathways are inclusive of women whose immigration status, previous experiences, fear of authorities or distrust of services may affect engagement.
Please see full JD attached for detailed job description and responsibilities
Person Specification
Qualifications and training Essential
Registered Midwife with current NMC registration Degree-level education or equivalent demonstrable experience Evidence of continuing professional development relevant to health inequalities, leadership, quality improvement or perinatal care
Desirable
Master's-level study or willingness to undertake. Leadership or management qualification Quality-improvement, project-management, trauma-informed care, motivational interviewing, coaching or debriefing training Practice Assessor/Practice Supervisor preparation
Skills and Experience Essential
Substantial post-registration midwifery experience, including experience at Band 6 level or equivalent Experience across community and/or acute maternity care. Experience of caring for women with complex social, safeguarding, mental-health or health-inequality needs Experience of multi-agency working Evidence of audit, service improvement, education or practice development
Desirable
Previous Band 7 experience or equivalent leadership responsibility Experience of community outreach, co-production or working with voluntary/community organisations Experience contributing to PMRT, ATAIN, incident review, complaints or governance processes Experience of data analysis and report writing
Personal and Professional attributes Essential
Excellent communication, relationship-building, influencing and negotiation skills Ability to communicate complex, sensitive and potentially distressing information compassionately Ability to work independently and exercise sound professional judgement Strong presentation, teaching and facilitation skills Ability to interpret data and translate findings into practical improvement Strong organisational skills and ability to manage a varied workload Advanced IT skills and confident use of electronic patient-record systems Commitment to equity, inclusion, respectful care and anti-discriminatory practice Emotionally resilient, reflective and compassionate Able to challenge constructively and advocate for women, babies and families Demonstrate integrity, curiosity and willingness to learn from lived experience
Desirable
Experience of facilitation of listening events, focus groups or community engagement Knowledge of improvement methodology, such as PDSA cycles or driver diagrams Ability to speak a community language relevant to East Kent, while recognising that professional interpreting remains required for clinical care Experience of working in a role requiring high levels of emotional intelligence and resilience.
Knowledge Essential
Strong understanding/ detailed knowledge of health inequalities and their impact on perinatal access, experience and outcomes Knowledge of relevant national guidance and reports, including MBRRACE-UK, Ockenden, NHS England maternity safety and equity priorities, Core20PLUS5 and personalised care principles Knowledge of safeguarding, domestic abuse, substance use, perinatal mental health, disability, learning disability, migration and asylum-related barriers
Desirable
Knowledge of the East Kent population, local deprivation patterns, coastal/rural inequities and local community infrastructure Knowledge of research methodology and evaluation
Other requirements Essential
Ability to travel across East Kent and work flexibly across community and hospital locations Enhanced DBS clearance Commitment to ongoing professional development, appraisal and revalidation
Desirable
Full UK driving licence and access to suitable transport for community work, where required by the Trust
Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer details Employer name East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust
Address East Kent Hospital University Foundation Trust
Ramsgate Road
Margate
CT9 4AN
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.ekhuft.nhs.uk/patients-and-visitors/ (Opens in a new tab)