Our Maternity Services Team have introduced a new Inequalities Flag within the Cerner electronic patient record (EPR). The flag brings together a set of indicators that highlight where women may be at greater risk of experiencing health inequalities, providing a consistent and accurate way of identifying those who may need something different in their care.

The flag is live in maternity on Cerner, and implementation within Athena is planned for November, ensuring consistency across all maternity systems. When women under a maternity pathway access care elsewhere in the Trust, their Inequalities Flag will also be visible in other areas, allowing colleagues across services to recognise and respond appropriately to their needs.

Project Manager for Health Inequalities, Claudia De'Vries, said: "Testing using our existing data has shown that the flag works effectively. It shows us that women who are identified by the flag are more likely to experience poorer birth outcomes, access their care later and are more likely to miss appointments.

"Community midwives are already using the flag to offer Maternity Assessment Centre (MAC) access passes and travel support to a number of these women, helping to reduce barriers to attending appointments and engaging with care.

"The wider ambition is to embed the flag across all services, creating a standardised approach to identifying and supporting patients most at risk of poor outcomes. This will enable the Trust to address health inequity on a larger scale and target support where it is most needed, particularly Core20PLUS5 clinical areas."

Director of Midwifery and Women's Services, Gemma Puckett, said: "Huge thank you to everyone involved in bringing this important initiative to life and for our Trust Board for supporting the rollout. Our ongoing work is focused on embedding the flag into practice, monitoring its use and evaluating impact on access, experience and outcomes for women most at risk. 

"It forms part of CHFT's wider approach to improving equitable outcomes in maternity care."