Idea Transcript
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) This document sets out an overview of the EDI legislative requirements and the organisation’s EDI objectives and action plans:
The Equality Act 2010 The Public Sector Equality Duty The Protected Characteristics The NNUH Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Objectives
The Equality Act 2010 The Equality Act is the law which prohibits unfair treatment and helps achieve equal opportunities in the workplace, in service provision and in wider society. The general equality duty requires that in the exercise of our functions we have due regard to the need to:
Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act.
Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
These are sometimes referred to as the three aims of the general equality duty. The Act helpfully explains that having due regard for advancing equality involves:
Removing or minimising disadvantages suffered by people due to their protected characteristics.
Taking steps to meet the needs of people from protected groups where these are different from the needs of other people.
Encouraging people from protected groups to participate in public life or in other activities where their participation is disproportionately low.
Compliance with the general equality duty is a legal obligation, but it also makes good business sense. An organisation that is able to provide services to meet the diverse needs of it users should find that it carries out its core business more efficiently. A workforce that has a supportive working environment is more productive.
Public Sector Equality Duty The Public Sector Equality Duty (the Equality Duty) was created by the Equality Act 2010 (section 149). The ‘specific equality duties’ requires that we: Annually publish information to demonstrate our compliance with the general equality duty. This information must include, in particular, information relating to people who share a protected characteristic who are: o our employees, and o people affected by its policies and practices. Prepare and publish one or more objectives which will help us to further achieve any of the aims of the general equality duty. The objectives must be specific and measurable and be published at least every four years. Publish both the equality information and the equality objectives in a manner that is accessible to the public.
The Protected Characteristics
Age
Disability A person has a disability if she or he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on that person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
Gender reassignment The process of transitioning from one gender to another.
Marriage and civil partnership Marriage is no longer restricted to a union between a man and a woman but now includes a marriage between a same-sex couple. Same-sex couples can also have their relationships legally recognised as 'civil partnerships'. Civil partners must not be treated less favourably than married couples (except where permitted by the Equality Act).
Pregnancy and maternity
Pregnancy is the condition of being pregnant or expecting a baby. Maternity refers to the period after the birth, and is linked to maternity leave in the employment context. In the non-work context, protection against maternity discrimination is for 26 weeks after giving birth, and this includes treating a woman unfavourably because she is breastfeeding.
Race Refers to the protected characteristic of Race. It refers to a group of people defined by their race, colour, and nationality (including citizenship) ethnic or national origins.
Religion and belief Religion has the meaning usually given to it but belief includes religious and philosophical beliefs including lack of belief (such as Atheism). Generally, a belief should affect your life choices or the way you live for it to be included in the definition.
Sex A man or a woman.
Sexual orientation Whether a person's sexual attraction is towards their own sex, the opposite sex or to both sexes.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion objectives Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion cannot be separated from our PRIDE values and behaviours, which recognise the importance of our people in providing positive experiences for service users and our workforce. For our workforce, the principle of ‘know your staff’ is integral to leadership and must embrace equality, diversity and inclusive practices. The purpose of setting specific, measurable equality objectives is to help us better perform the general equality duty, focusing on the outcomes to be achieved. Our equality goals and objectives will help focus attention on the priority equality issues within the NNUH in order to deliver improvements in policy making, service delivery and employment. These goals and objectives are supplemented by specific actions plans.
Over-arching Equality, Diversity and Inclusion goals
Workforce focused To have a workforce which is representative of the communities we serve.
Service focused To have accessible services for all members of all communities that we serve
Over-arching Equality, Diversity and Inclusion objectives Workforce focused To build an inclusive environment for our staff. We will continue to work with staff to develop a positive culture and good relations where our staff feel engaged, valued, empowered and proud to work at the NNUH.
Service focused To improve our evidence base for patient equality of access to services. We will review the way in which we collect, analyse and use equality data for our patients and service users. We will use this data to ensure our service planning results in equality of access for all and take positive action for relevant protected characteristics groups, where necessary.
We will improve the capture of equality information in respect of our workforce. We will analyse the data in order to have a sound evidence base and inform appropriate responses and priorities.
To make information more accessible to better meet the needs of people who have a disability, impairment or sensory loss. We will maintain compliance with NHS England’s Accessible Information Standard.
We will maintain compliance with NHS requirements, including:
We will ensure compliance with the NHS Sexual Orientation Monitoring Information Standard, which provides the mechanism for recording the sexual orientation of all patients/service users aged 16 years in all service areas where it may be relevant to record this data.
Equality Delivery System (EDS2) Workforce Race Equality Scheme (WRES) Workforce Disability Equality Scheme (WDES) We will ensure compliance with the requirements of the Gender Pay Gap Regulations and publish information in respect of: Gender pay gap (mean and median averages) Gender bonus gap (mean and median averages) Proportion of men and women receiving bonuses Proportion of men and women in each quartile of the organisation’s pay structure
Last updated for Hospital Management Board: 7 November 2017 – Reapproved as no changes by the Deputy of Workforce Sub -Board 2018