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Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Human Rights

BSMHFT takes its obligations under Equality Legislation seriously and aims to provide fair and equitable treatment to, and value diversity in, its staff, service users and communities. In doing so we aim to ensure that our actions and working practices comply with both the spirit and intention of the Human Rights Act (1998) and the Equality Act (2010) and the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).

Our trust has three aims for equality of opportunity in employment:

To ensure that our workforce is representative of the community served at all levels and across all occupations
To ensure equality in the application of employment policies and practices, and specifically equality of outcomes for different groups
To promote good relations between all people who work for the trust, including volunteers and individuals employed by other organisations.

Our trust continues to work to ensure that these three aims are embedded into everyday practice, and are not just add-ons.

We monitor our workforce profile and our recruitment and employment processes in line with the 9 protected characteristics. We monitor the following to identify whether any groups are suffering any disadvantage in relation to:

Recruitment
Promotion
Training
Disciplinary action
Grievances
Performance reviews
Whistle blowing
Ending employment

Take a look at our facts and figures infographic about Equality, diversity and inclusion in our Trust.

Take a look at the Equality, diversity and inclusion animation.

See our reports here.

For further queries please contact Bina Saini, Senior Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead bina.saini1@nhs.net

Protected Characteristics

The Equality Act 2010 legally protects you from discrimination in a variety of areas including the workplace.

Age
Disability
Religion or Belief (including no religion)
Gender Reassignment
Race
Sex
Sexual Orientation
Marriage and Civil Partnership
Pregnancy and Maternity

What is Equality and Diversity?

These two terms are sometimes used interchangeably, however, the terms ‘equality’ and ‘diversity’ are not the same.
Equality is about making sure everyone is treated fairly and given an equitable chance to access opportunities. It is not about treating everyone the same way as they may have different needs to achieve the same outcomes.

Diversity means ‘difference’. When it is used in the same context as ‘equality’, it is about recognising and valuing individual as well as group differences. It also means treating people as individuals and placing positive value on the diversity they bring as a result of them belonging to a certain personal protected characteristic or their cultural background.

As a result of diversity meaning difference, we sometime focus on our differences and put aside what we have in common, a focus on commonality will most likely promote a more inclusive and cohesive workforce.

Why are Equality, Diversity and Inclusion important to us?

We wish to provide a service that is accessible, provide choice and is flexible to the community we serve
We wish to recruit and retain the most creative and committed staff to work with us from all community groups so we can better represent the society we serve
We have a corporate social responsibility
We have moral and legal obligation

We are keen to ensure that our services recognise and deliver culturally sensitive, inclusive, accessible and appropriate services which make a difference to individual lives and to ensure that the services we provide do so without discrimination. We are committed to ensuring that our approach to our staff is the same as our approach to our service users being open and transparent, focused and based on our values.