Equality, diversity and inclusion

North Mid is committed to being an anti-racism organisation which actively tackles racism in all its forms. Our anti-racism statement sets out this commitment for our patients, staff, visitors and partner organisations.

We are working closely with teams across the Trust to develop an ongoing improvement plan which will enable us to deliver on this anti-racism commitment. The plan will build on our existing work and ensure we are held accountable and judged on our progress towards being an actively anti-racism organisation.

No one should be treated unfairly because of the colour of their skin or their ethnic background.

Our anti-racism statement.

We will identify and take action to tackle structural racism and wider health inequalities, embedding reflection and learning at all levels.

We are committed to embedding a strong strategic anti-racism approach in London’s Health and Care System:

• In the places our people work in
• In the provision of the care, we provide.
• Across all systems of health and care we deliver for the people of London

We openly acknowledge the repeated negative experiences of staff from multiple ethnic groups within our NHS health and care system.

We recognise that these lived experiences arise from embedded policies, practices, and processes, many of which have become normalised and unchallenged in our systems; representing (for staff) institutionalised racism.

We further acknowledge that racism serves as an issue in and of itself, but also, as a surrogate for discriminatory practices against other characteristics such as gender, sexual orientation, religion, belief, disability, and others that can detrimentally intersect for individuals.

As set out in the London Workforce Race Strategy (2020), we will create environments where all our staff can be their full, true, and authentic selves and thus deliver to their best potentials and progress to their ultimate goals. We commit to actively seeking to identify, measure and call out discriminatory practice and to take steps to deal consistently and effectively with poor behaviour where present in any of our staff or organisations. We will not be complicit by silence.

The NHS England – London Promise

• We will listen and hear when staff raise concerns.
• We will choose to be curious, humble, and considerate and avoid defensive thinking.
• We will take action where discrimination is evident.
• We will pro-actively co-design new systems with staff and stakeholders and institute polices, practices and cultural expectations for belonging and inclusion.
• We will embed a strategic approach to commissioning to help reduce systemic bias, focused on creating the right environment for reducing systemic bias in commissioning that will improve patient care and experience.
• We will hold ourselves accountable, individually, and collectively, as leaders to delivering to these commitments.

In partnership with other NHS bodies, we are developing service measures that give an insight into how well we are doing on meeting a range of health service access, experience and outcome for different communities.  This is a major project, and it will help us meet the Government’s levelling-up agenda in health (Core 20 plus 5) We will start posting information from April 2024 (baseline)

WRES

The aim of the standard (WRES) is to improve the experience of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) staff in the workplace.

It consists of nine indicators - five workforce metrics, including BME representation on NHS boards and four NHS Staff Survey findings.

The WRES has been mandated across the NHS since April 2015.  In addition to being included in the NHS Standard Contract the WRES also forms part of the Care Quality Commission's Well Led inspection regime.

Further information on the WRES can be found on the NHS England website.

WDES

Our Workforce Disability Equality Standard results and action plan

The Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) is a set of ten specific measures (metrics) which enables all NHS organisations to compare the workplace and career experiences of disabled and non-disabled staff. Our Trust uses the metrics data to develop and publish an action plan, to address the key challenges we face in ensuring fair treatment for disabled staff.

 

 Our WDES tend data since 2019.

Read our Workforce Disability Equality Standard Action Plan 2020- 2021 [docx] 19KB  

We will publish our plans on embedding disability as they progress.  If you would like any further information or would like to work with us in partnership on this agenda with us, please contact the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion team: northmid.equalityteam@nhs.net .

 

Gender pay report

The Government introduced Gender pay reporting in 2017, requiring all employers with 250 or more employees, to publish statutory calculations every year showing how large the pay gap is between their male and female employees.  We publish our progress on a yearly basis including action we are taking to reduce our gap.

We intend to collaborate with our local partners to identify opportunities to encourage young males and females to consider careers in non-traditional gender roles, as it is the over-representation of men in certain higher paid roles and the under-representation of women in such roles which is the main cause of the gap.

To see the progress we are making please read through our gender pay gap progress report. online gender pay report 2023 vFinal.pdf [pdf] 421KB

 

 

Action in specific areas

Support for our patients

• Access guides for our hospital and community sites
• We are working with AccessAble to create detailed accessibility information for all of our departments, wards and services.  These will be available on our website when complete.

Support for our staff

• Disability Confident Employer
• We're a Disability Confident Employer and are committed to the following:
• Making sure our recruitment processes are inclusive and accessible.
• communicate and promote vacancies both internally and externally.
• offer an interview to disabled people if they meet the essential criteria in the person specification.
• anticipate and provide reasonable adjustments as required.
• support any existing employee who acquires a disability or long-term health condition, allowing them to stay in work.
• There are currently 3 levels of the Disability Confident Commitment. We've achieved level 2.
• We are a Disability Confident employer.  This scheme supports employers in making the most of the talents of its disabled staff.

As a Disability Confident employer, we aim to:

• Challenge attitudes towards disability
• Increase understanding of disability
• Remove barriers
• Ensure that disabled people have the opportunities to fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations

Business Disability Forum

We are members of the Business Disability Forum. This non-profit organisation supports us to get better at recruiting and retaining staff with a disability, with a long-term health condition who are neurodiverse.

Armed forces covenant

Addressing race equality

NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard

Our performance against each of the nine WRES indicators are indicated in this document: North Mid's WRES Action Plan 2023-2028.docx [docx] 48KB

Why is the Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) important?

The systemic discrimination against Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) staff within the NHS is highlighted in numerous reports and studies.  Being undervalued and discriminated against leads to disengagement, unhappiness, depression, poor performance and ultimately reduced effectiveness.  This is true for everyone, but Professor West’s (2011) research shows that:

‘The greater the proportion of staff from a black or minority ethnic (BME) background who report experiencing discrimination at work in the previous 12 months, the lower the levels of patient satisfaction, the experience of BME staff is a very good barometer of the climate of respect and care for all within NHS trusts’.

What counts as white and BME?

As taken from the Office of National Statistics Census categories:

• White staff - White British, Irish and Any Other White
• Black and Minority Ethnic staff - Black or Black British, Asian or Asian British, any Mixed Ethnic Group, Chinese, Any Other Ethnic Group

(ONS Census categories)

Gender Pay Gap

Gender pay gap tends to March 2023

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans plus, equity and inclusion

We appreciate that the needs of our Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans plus (LGBT+) communities in our area and our workforce are not always effectively met.  This is a challenge we share with the wider NHS and is backed up by research (LGBT+ health: what our research tells us so far - Primary Care Unit (cam.ac.uk),bma-sogi-report-2-nov-2022.pdf and National LGBT Survey: Summary report (publishing.service.gov.uk). 

The Trust visually shows its support for LGBT+ inclusion, marking Pride (photos) and LGBT+ history moth as public events. The Trust recognises that it is at the beginning of its journey to full equity and inclusion in relation to LGBT+ people.  It has pioneered policies on the care and support of Trans patients and Trans staff, backed up by a face-to-face briefing tool co-developed and delivered with the staff LGBT+ network.

 

 North Mid’s first ever  Disability Charter is a commitment to support staff and patients with disabilities who use our services.

Read more about our  North Mid Disability Charter 2021-2022.pdf [pdf] 22KB