Promoting Equality and Diversity

Promoting Equality and Diversity

Promoting equality and diversity is at the heart of the NHS. As someone who works within health and social care, you can help ensure that we exercise fairness in all that we do to deliver high-quality and consistent care and services to all. This will lead to improvements in health outcomes across the country.

First, let’s look at the NHS Constitution, which describes the NHS commitments to patients, the public and staff. It also explains the responsibilities that we each owe to one another to ensure that the NHS operates fairly and effectively in delivering high quality care and services.

The NHS Constitution

The NHS Constitution for England [1] is a document that sets out the objectives of the National Health Service, the rights and responsibilities of the various parties involved in health care and public health and the guiding principles that govern the service.

There are seven principles in the NHS constitution. Here, we will look at the first and the third principles.

The first principle is:

''The NHS provides a comprehensive service, available to all

What does this mean?

This means it is available to all, irrespective of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion, belief, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity or marital or civil partnership status.

The service is designed to improve, prevent, diagnose and treat both physical and mental health problems with equal regard. It has a duty to each and every individual that it serves and must respect their human rights. At the same time, it has a wider social duty to promote equality through the services it provides and to pay particular attention to groups or sections of society where improvements in health and life expectancy are not keeping pace with the rest of the population.

What does this mean for me as a member of staff?

Your responsibility is to contribute towards providing fair and equitable services for all and to play your part, wherever possible, in helping to reduce inequalities in experience, access or outcomes between differing groups or sections of society requiring health care.

The XL Team embrace all of the NHS constitutions and are a proud partner of local and national NHS and Public health services. However, as a member of the XL Team, we'd like to remind you of our visions and ethos which is to challenge and improve health inequalities in our local communities.

The Third Principle is:

Whilst the second principle is about access to clinical services, the third principle is:

''The NHS aspires to the highest standards of excellence and professionalism

What does this mean?

This means the NHS aims to provide high quality, patient-centred care that is safe and effective. The NHS achieves this through the people it employs and the support, education, training and development they receive; in the leadership and management of its organisations; and through its commitment to innovation and to the promotion, conduct and use of research to improve the current and future health and care of the population. Respect, dignity, compassion and care should be at the core of how patients and staff are treated not only because that is the right thing to do but because patient safety, experience and outcomes are all improved when staff are valued, empowered and supported.

What does this mean for me as a member of staff?

You have a right to be treated fairly, equally and free from discrimination. You should feel valued, supported and empowered by your employer.

Consider the following scenario:

A father and son set out on their monthly fishing trip. En route they become involved in a car accident and sadly the son’s father dies at the scene. The son is rushed to the local Emergency Department with a head injury. He is taken immediately into theatre and the head injuries consultant is called in. Upon looking at the son the consultant exclaims, ‘I can’t operate on him – he’s my son!’.

How can this be?

The answer may be clear to you, but if not, we will come back to this later…

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