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Equality & diversity

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Inclusion As Standard Logo
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The Trust is committed to the development of a culture that promotes and celebrates equality, diversity and inclusion.

As a public sector organisation we have a legal obligation under the Equality Act 2010 to promote equality for people who have one of the nine protected characteristics listed below, but we also endeavour to work more broadly within the spirit of the Equality Act 2010 and proactively support people with other vulnerabilities such as, but not limited to care responsibility, homelessness, geographical isolation and poverty. Everyone who uses our services can expect to be treated with respect and dignity.

The nine protected characteristics defined under the Equality Act 2010 are:

  • Age
  • Disability
  • Gender re-assignment
  • Marriage and civil partnership
  • Pregnancy and maternity
  • Race including nationality and ethnicity
  • Religion and belief
  • Sex
  • Sexual orientation

Equality is not about treating everyone the same. We endeavour to an equality of outcome for our patients. Equality is about ensuring access to services is available to all. This is done by taking account of people's differing needs and capabilities.

Diversity is about recognising and valuing differences through inclusion, regardless of age, disability, marital status, race, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation or other personal characteristics. We are committed to have a work force that represents the community we serve.

Inclusion is about ensuring our practices are guided, developed and overseen by people they affect. From April 2018 we will offer a range of co-production groups to help us develop more person centred working practices and support our patients in ways they choose.

Inclusion as Standard

Inclusion as Standard is our commitment that any patient, visitor or staff member can expect our facilities to meet their needs regardless of disability, additional needs or protected characteristic.

We know we can do more to support our communities and the people within them and we are committed to work hard to be more active and responsive to the needs of the people we serve. Inclusion as Standard will help us do this through reporting of good practice and gaps in support, developing a sense of communal responsibility and rewarding engagement.

Our accreditation system allows our departments to feed back where they have done well and where they feel the could do better with the right help, then empowers our staff and patients to take a lead in developing and refining solutions through our co-production groups.

The aim of Inclusion as Standard is to see improvements across our Trust, guided by people actually affected by the issues.

Contact

For information about our work to make our trust more equal, diverse and inclusive, or to get involved with one of our co-production groups, please contact our Equality Support Service by emailing nwangliaft.edi@nhs.net

Co-production models of working have been shown to improve engagement, drive up quality and deliver more effective outcomes.

The Trust uses co-production modes of working to design and deliver new services with direct input from people affected by those services, as part of the Trust's Equality Impact Assessment process and as a response to complaints where an equality element exists.

The Trust's co-production groups and sub-groups exists for a variety of protected groups as required and operate throughout the year. The groups focus on patient issues and are open to the public, patients, staff and interested parties such as local charities and support groups.

To become involved with a group, or if you feel a new sub-group should be created to support you or someone you know, please contact nwangliaft.edi@nhs.net.

Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust EDS2 RAG Rating Event 2016. The Equality Delivery System (EDS) was designed by the NHS for the NHS, to deliver better, more personal, fair and diverse outcomes for patients and staff.

The EDS was refreshed on 4th November 2013 and renamed EDS2. The EDS2 has been streamlined, simplified and uses clearer language. As of April 2015 the EDS2 has become part of the NHS contract.

EDS was developed against a backdrop of some significant inconsistencies in practice within the NHS, recognising poor equality practice in parts and building on good equality practice in others. The EDS2 covers patient care, public health, compliance and workforce issues.

EDS2 outcomes align with the NHS Constitution, NHS Outcomes Framework, Human Resources Transition Framework, FREDA principles (Fairness, Respect, Equality, Diversity and Autonomy) and the Care Quality Commission's Essential Standards of Quality and Safety.

Every three to 5 years each Trust should compile an annual EDS2 report, the purpose of which is to report on progress in respect of delivering EDS2 within the Trust. The report should provide detail on the models of delivery and processes used. The report also sets the legislative context, describes governance arrangements and future plans.

The EDS2 report should be guided by input from the public, stakeholders, staff and service managers through a RAG (Red, Amber, Green) rating process.

Due to the merger of Peterborough and Stamford NHS Foundation Trust and the Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust in April 2017 the new North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust decided to postpone the next RAG rating event to allow for the alignment of reporting systems.

In April 2018, the Trust introduced a new model of data collection called Inclusion As Standard Accredited. This system operates as a competitive model of data collection to enable departments to gain accreditation for good practice and identify service improvements. The model has provided some positive results which will be presented following the next RAG rating event.

In March 2019 NHS England announced the final draft of the next incarnation of EDS, EDS3. No final model has been announced. EDS3 is expected to come into effect form Autumn 2019.

RAG rating events were held by both Peterborough and Stamford NHS Foundation Trust and the Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust in 2016 therefore the North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust is obliged to hold its next RAG rating event between August 2019 and August 2021.

Hate crime is defined as any criminal offence which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice based on a person's:

  • Race or perceived race
  • Religion or perceived religion
  • Sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation
  • Disability or perceived disability
  • Gender identity or perceived gender identity

Hate crimes and incidents come in many different forms. Trust training on Hate Crime and how to identify it can be provided by contacting  nwangliaft.edi@nhs.net.

Hate crimes have serious consequences for the victims, for our Trust and for society as a whole. If you witness a hate crime, do not hesitate, report it by contacting the Police by calling 111 or via the True Vision Website.

From 2018, employers with 250 or more employees are required to publish statutory calculations no later than 30th March each year. The information will demonstrate the pay gap between male and female employees as at 31 March the previous year.

Each report contains data as at the 31st March in the previous year (e.g. the report published in March 2018 contained data for the twelve months up to and including 31st March 2017).

The information must be published on the employer's website. This cycle continues each year with organisations being required to maintain the data on their website for three years in order to show the progress made.

Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) is a requirement for NHS healthcare providers through the NHS standard contract.

In 2014 NHS Equality and Diversity Council announced it had agreed action to ensure employees from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds have equal access to career opportunities and receive fair treatment in the workplace.

This is important because studies shows that a motivated, included and valued workforce helps deliver high quality patient care, increased patient satisfaction and better patient safety.

In April 2015, after engaging and consulting with key stakeholders including other NHS organisations across England, the WRES was mandated through the NHS standard contract, starting in 2015/16.

The WRES measures key metrics over a period of time to show changes in representation across an organisation.

2017-2018

2018-2019

Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) is due to launch in summer 2019.

The WDES is a set of ten specific measures that will enable NHS organisations to compare the experiences of Disabled and non-disabled staff. The Trust will use this information to develop an action plan to demonstrate progress against the indicators of disability equality.

The WDES has been commissioned by the Equality and Diversity Council (EDC) and developed through a pilot and extensive engagement with Trusts and key stakeholders. It is mandated through the NHS Standard Contract.

2018-2019

The Accessible Information Standard (AIS) is a series of adjustments and solutions designed to help people with additional needs and disabilities to access information more easily.

AIS has five steps to improve the support offered to people with communication needs:

  • Identify - this means listen when someone needs extra support and find out what kind of support they need.
  • Record - keep track of the information so they don't need to tell us every time they use our services
  • Flag - make sure the information is easy for staff to see through both IT systems and using physical methods
  • Share - with permission, share this information with other providers of health and social care services so we can work together
  • Use - make sure you use the information available so you support our patients as well as you can.

The Trust's Accessible Information System includes facilities such as:

  • Patients with additional communication needs can be identified using the AIS Information Collection Form which can be found at all reception desks and at external organisations such as GP surgeries.
  • Patients will be able to receive their letters in alternative formats, such as Braille or Easy Read, automatically once they notify us.
  • Departments using Pipa boards have an AIS magnet to be placed above the patient’s beds and signs to be placed on room doors.
  • With the patient's consent, the Trust can share information with our partner organisations.
  • The Trust has in post an Easy Read Developer to enable patient leaflets to be converted to an Easy Read format.
  • SignLive is available to use on every Trust mobile device. For more information click here.

Staff proactively look to organise interpreters and materials for patients with additional information needs to ensure the patient is properly supported during appointments and whilst an inpatient.

For more information or to help us improve the AIS programme, please contact nwangliaft.edi@nhs.net

Download our latest Diversity Calendar to keep up to date with coming events and groups by Clicking Here.