Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
We are committed to promoting equality and embracing diversity and to shaping our services around the needs and preferences of our patients. We aim to provide accessible services, delivered in a way that respects the needs of each individual and does not exclude anyone.
Our aim is to ensure everyone with an interest in our organisation including the public, members of staff, patients, clinicians and commissioners, have a clear view of what we are seeking to achieve and equality and diversity will be the thread that weaves through the whole of our business. We continue our commitment to eliminating inequalities in both patient experience and health outcomes while continuing to maintain and improve patient quality and safety.
By demonstrating these beliefs the Trust aims to ensure that it develops a healthcare workforce that is diverse, non-discriminatory and appropriate to the delivery of modern healthcare.
The Trust aims to be an organisation that people want to access for high quality care and treatment. The Trust aims to be an organisation that people want to join and remain with as staff because it allows them to make their distinctive contributions and achieve their full potential.
The Trust does not tolerate any form of intimidation, humiliation, harassment, bullying or abuse and will ensure that patients, staff, visitors, and the public are treated fairly, with dignity and respect. Our aim is to break down all barriers of discrimination, prejudice, fear, or misunderstanding, which can damage service effectiveness for service users and carers.
The Trust is committed to compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty as set out in the Equality Act 2010. The Trust will do this by eliminating unlawful discrimination, harassment, and victimisation, have due regard to advancing equality of opportunity and foster good relations, for the relevant protected characteristics:
- Age
- Disability
- Gender re-assignment
- Marriage and civil partnership
- Pregnancy and maternity
- Race
- Religion and belief
- Sex / Gender
- Sexual Orientation.
The Trust aims to ensure that its services and employment opportunities are equally accessible to other groups that are ‘seldom heard’. These other groups could include the long term unemployed, sex workers, homeless groups; substance misusers; migrant workers; asylum seekers/ refugees; but this list is not exhaustive.
The Trust is committed to building a workforce which is valued and whose diversity reflects the community it serves, enabling it to deliver the best possible healthcare service to those communities. By addressing any inequalities in employment practices, the Trust seeks to deliver equitable services to all.
The Trust believes that unlawful discrimination is unacceptable and aims to ensure that all patients, applicants, employees, contractors, agency staff and visitors will receive appropriate treatment and will not be disadvantaged by conditions or requirements which cannot be shown to be justified. This is particularly so on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, and trade union activity.
To support this we have a dedicated Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead whose remit includes providing strategic and operational advice and guidance to the Trust’s Management Team, its staff and other key stakeholders on all matters around equality, diversity and inclusion linked to patient care and workforce.
The Equality and Diversity Strategy is in place and includes a number of Equality Objectives. These Equality Objectives are giving direction and supporting the organisation to move forward against the equality and diversity agenda.