The Equality Act came into force in October 2010; and the additional new Public Sector Equality Duties and the combined discrimination provisions came into force in April 2011. The purpose of the Equality Act is to consolidate existing discrimination legislation and contains measures, which are intended to strengthen protection against discrimination.
The protected characteristics in the Public Sector Equality Duty are listed in the Equality Act as: age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.
The EDS was introduced into the NHS in July 2011 and formally launched in November 2011. The EDS is a toolkit and framework for assessing how NHS organisations are performing with regard to Equality, Diversity and Human Rights; how they can improve; and how they get to where they want to be.
The EDS toolkit was refreshed in November 2013 by NHS England and is now known as “EDS2”. It includes a core set of outcomes and a more streamlined grading system; and it encourages organisations to use it flexibly.
The Trust’s EDS is the Action Plan 2017-2018 which was agreed by the Trust Board in July 2017. It is the framework that drives the work of the Trust’s Equality & Diversity agenda to ensure both legislative compliance and best practice. Click here to download the Action Plan 2017-18.
Download the EDS core outcomes.
The following objectives have been developed to align with Trust Objectives, contractual and legal obligations as well as respond to issues identified through engagement activities:
Equality Objectives
Strategy: Ensure we have a coherent and pro-active response to Equality, Diversity and Human Rights as it affects our patients, visitors and employees. Ensuring we have a vision of what we want to be, where we want to be and how we are going to get there.
Valuing Our Diverse Workforce: Further develop our diverse workforce that reflects the communities that we serve. We will address gaps and issues impacting on specific Protected Characteristic groups, identified through our data collection and analysis.
Engagement: Recognise and utilise the intelligence and skills available in the wider community by improving engagement and partnership working with our external partners, community and voluntary organisations.
Patient Experience: Develop cultural competence and understanding of diversity supported by access to appropriate resources to enhance patient experience and satisfaction.
Since April 2015 all Trusts have been required to submit an annual WRES report and plan to ensure compliance. Although there are some slight changes in the data this year there are no areas of significant concern. This year we are working with a number of departments and community groups to identify any issues or gaps relating to the WRES and any of the other protected characteristic groups for both patients and staff. A development day will take place mid October 2018 where an action plan for both the EDS2 and the WRES will be jointly created which will be embedded, progressed and monitored by key staff and external partners.
Once the action plan has been completed we will publish it here on our Equality and Diversity web page. We aim to publish the action plan by early December 2018. In the meantime if you wish to view the latest WRES report please click here.
Link to Trust Objectives and Corporate/Board Assurance Framework Risks The WRES contributes to the Corporate Objectives in that it enables the Trust to identify how it can develop BME staff to their full potential. There is a direct link to improving staff experience, developing a flexible workforce and our recruitment ambitions around use of agency staff if we are able to widen the skills and knowledge of the workforce to respond more appropriately to the needs of our patients.
By addressing the gaps and issues affecting BME staff, it will have a positive impact on the overall workforce’s ability to progress the Trust’s objectives.
Governance The regulators, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will use the WRES to help assess whether NHS organisations are well-led.
Implementation of the subsequent WRES action plan will be monitored by the Workforce and Engagement Committee and any arising issues escalated to the Quality Governance Committee. There is a requirement for the WRES report and actions to be presented and agreed by Trust Board annually.
UHCW NHS Trust is committed to ensuring that the public is able to access relevant information and data in relation to its workforce and patients. This will help to engender a relationship based on transparency and openness, which will in turn enable us to develop a partnership approach with patients and other key stakeholders.
The link provided below will allow you gain a better understanding of the profile of our workforce and patients.
No individual will be identifiable from the information we publish as we pride ourselves in ensuring that our staff and patients are afforded the confidentiality that is their right.
As you will appreciate we are one of the largest Acute Teaching Trusts in the country, therefore, we have a vast amount of information and data relating to our staff and patients. Therefore, it is not possible to publish all our statistics but we have provided key information.
View our latest data
The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017 requires employers to report their gender pay gaps for any year where they have a headcount of 250 or more employees.
The report below details the results from the gender pay review analysis (March 2017) for University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust undertaken as part of the Equality Act 2010 specific duties. It is important to note the difference between gender pay gap and equal pay as being:
Download the UHCW Gender Pay Gap Report - March 2018
If you wish to view the most recent EIAs or would like further information, please contact info@uhcw.nhs.uk
UHCW NHS Trust has legal duties under the Equality Act 2010 to eliminate unlawful discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations on the basis of Protected Characteristics (age, disability, race/ethnicity/nationality, religion/belief, marriage/civil partnership, sexual orientation, gender, gender reassignment/transgender and pregnancy/maternity).
The Equality and Diversity team has recently revised and updated the Trust’s EIA form so that it encourages meaningful consideration of the needs of the diverse communities and workforce we serve and work with.
EIAs will help to identify if there is potential to negatively impact on any of the Protected Characteristics groups and allow adaptations as necessary. It will also alert to whether any groups may have particular needs.
The EIA process will help to avoid claims of unlawful discrimination as it provides a framework to ensure the Trust meets its legislative duties. The process helps the Trust to anticipate problems and make informed and open decisions.
The Independent Advisory Group (IAG) for Equality and Diversity was established in March 2013 and the remit of the group is:
The group meets bi-monthly and by ensuring meaningful consultation, involvement and participation of the wider community, we have enabled them to influence and shape our plans; and assess our progress against the actions identified. Policies, key changes and consultations are reviewed and assessed by the IAG so that the Trust is able to demonstrate that issues regarding equality of access and equality of outcome are considered and integrated in to the Trust’s core business.
The membership of the group includes representation from:
• Carers Trust Heart of England • Community individual (gay/lesbian community) • Community individual (older people) • Faith Centre • Coventry City Council • Grapevine (people with physical/sensory/learning disabilities) • Head of Patient Relations
• Health & Wellbeing/Smoking Cessation Lead • Healthwatch Coventry • Modern Matrons • Representative from Rugby St Cross • Staffside • Volunteer Services • Ward Managers
Representative members of the IAG are encouraged to report back to their organisations, departments and/or colleagues on how the Trust is progressing regarding Equality, Diversity and Human Rights and in turn ensure that the Trust is made aware of issues, as viewed by the wider community, partners and stakeholders, which are likely to impact on patient choice, care and satisfaction.
The meetings are used to not only oversee the Action Plan but to also address current and live issues as they arise. Guest speakers are invited who are able to inform and engender discussion to help the group identify further actions to support local and national concerns.
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