Equity and equality five year action plan

Equity for parents, carers and babies from minority communities and those living in the most deprived areas

What we want

Our vision is a maternity care service that is truly accessible to everyone in Dorset. From the moment you start planning to have a baby, throughout your pregnancy, and after your baby arrives, we want to make sure you get care that is safe, fair and personalised to you.

Working together

We’ll work with local NHS services, the councils, health visitors, Maternity Voices Partnerships and communities, and local people to make sure your needs and the needs of your family are at the heart of everything we do.

How we’re going to do it

Over the next five years we will focus on key actions to improve maternity services and make sure the care you get is fair and meets your needs. We will track our progress while we put these actions in place. Some of the areas we will focus on include:

  • Making your records available digitally, in different languages and formats

  • Creating maternal medicine networks

  • Tracking ethnic data quality and supporting digital education

  • Referrals to the diabetes prevention programme

  • Early antenatal care for people with complex social factors

  • Improving accessibility to perinatal mental health services

  • Creating personalised care and support plans

  • Promoting healthy weight during pregnancy

  • Stopping smoking during pregnancy

  • Dorset infant feeding network improving its infant feeding experience and outcomes

  • Staff training

Patient Advice Liaison Service

If you have any concerns that your ethnicity is affecting the type of care you receive, call the Patient Advice Liaison Service (PALS).

  • Dorset County Hospital: 0800 7838058

  • Poole Hospital: 01202 448499

  • Royal Bournemouth & Christchurch Hospitals: 01202 704886

Maternity Advice Line

Call: 0300 369 0388 right away if you experience any of the following:

  • Your waters break

  • You are bleeding

  • You have unexplained abdominal pain

  • Your baby is moving less than usual, or the pattern of movements has changed

  • You are less than 37 weeks pregnant and think you might be in labour

  • You feel unwell or feverish

  • You are unsure or worried about your labour, yourself or your baby