POLISH women in Worcestershire are being offered ante-natal clinics in their mother-tongue at the county's three hospitals.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is providing the service at Worcestershire Royal, Kidderminster and Redditch's Alexandra hospitals, thanks to the help of a Polish midwife who has worked for the trust for a number of years.

The trust's spokesman Richard Haynes said the service had been introduced in response to the county's growing Polish population, although he was unable to say how many women would need the service.

He said: "The idea is that a GP whose patient is a Polish speaker can refer the patient to the class run by a Polish-speaking midwife."

Mr Haynes said the trust did not offer antenatal classes in any other language, except English, but said it would consider doing so if there was enough demand.

The news comes just over two months after the trust decided to replace the county's four two-hour clinics with a single two to three-hour one. It also scrapped maternity ward tours.

Some expectant parents said they feared the Polish clinics were being offered to the detriment of services offered to other patients.

Harvey Fitzhugh, from Worcester, whose wife is expecting a baby in August, said: "I am outraged as I can see no justification for the Polish community getting this special treatment."

But Mr Haynes said the additional clinics would have no effect on English-speaking ante-natal clinics.

The service involves ante-natal sessions only and not tours of the hospital.

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