Equality and diversity

Commitment statement

The Equality Act (2010) has brought together and streamlined many strands of previous equality legislation in England, Scotland and Wales. It also introduces the new “public sector equality duty” (PSED), which is made up of the general equality duty which is supported by specific duties. The Act extends protection to the nine protected characteristic groups: race, gender, disability, age, maternity and pregnancy, religion or belief, gender identity, marriage and civil partnerships and sexual orientation. The general equality duty places a requirement on us to publish information that demonstrates compliance with the duty by 31 January 2012. A Trust Board paper which outlines our approach and explains more about the Act, duties and timescales is available here.

The specific duties require us to publish our equality objectives by the 6 April. Click here to see our equality objectives for 2012-2016. These have been developed based on feedback resulting from involvement and engagement with patients and staff as a result of implementing the equality delivery system (EDS).

On 1 April 2015, NHS England launched the Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) for all NHS organisations.  The Standard is now mandatory and is included as part of the NHS standard contract.

The WRES has been developed to address workforce inequalities relating to (Black & Minority Ethnic) BME staff across the NHS workforce.  It draws on research that provides evidence of a less favourable experience and in some cases, disadvantage. It highlights the important links between the consequences of this and patient care. This is a national issue which the NHS is keen to see addressed. From 1 April 2015, all NHS organisations are required to demonstrate through the nine point Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) metric how they are addressing race equality issues in a range of staffing areas. Click here to see our metric.

How does this relate to my care?

The department of health has laid out a clear ambition for the NHS which is to be a health service that is responsive to the needs of and accountable to all members of all communities. A service that delivers high quality care for all, that takes appropriate account of individuals' age, disability status, ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, sex and gender identity. In summary, a service where 'everyone counts' and where equality is integral to quality. This applies to all healthcare services provided or commissioned by the NHS. It applies to staff as well as patients and we support this ambition.

The NHS Equality and Diversity Council (EDC) which is chaired by Sir David Nicholson, Chief Executive of the NHS, has therefore set out a strategic vision which is: “A personal, fair and diverse health and care service, which draws the best from its communities and understands, respects and caters for all using and working within it”.

Developing healthcare services which are personal, fair and diverse is at the heart of what we are aspiring to achieve at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust. Work we have done to develop and implement our service standards and our five promises is aligned with these key principles.

How does this relate to my job?

We also have our core human resource principles which apply to all our staff. The Trust is committed to employment practices which aim to make sure that all staff feel valued and are treated with dignity and respect in an inclusive environment which acknowledges difference and celebrates diversity.