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.

Details
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 7
Salary: £49,387 to £56,515 a year per annum
Contract: Fixed term, 12 months
Working pattern: Full-time, Flexible working
Reference number: 344-9311WCY

Key responsibilities

• 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, 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.

Essential qualifications and experience

• 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
• Substantial post-registration midwifery experience, including experience at Band 6 level or equivalent
• Experience across community and/or acute maternity care, including 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
• Strong understanding of health inequalities and their impact on perinatal access, experience and outcomes
• Enhanced DBS clearance

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
• Previous Band 7 experience or equivalent leadership responsibility
• Experience of community outreach, co-production or working with voluntary/community organisations

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.

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
Contact: Jo Shayler, Deputy Director of Midwifery, joanne.shayler@nhs.net, 07811835682

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. The closing date is 25 October 2026. Apply through our website.