Equality and Diversity

Workforce Race Equality Standard

Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is committed to going beyond the legal requirements by ensuring we make equality, diversity and human rights integral to all of our decisions.  We are therefore implementing the Equality Diversity System (EDS) as agreed by the NHS Equality and Diversity Council (EDC) and the Department of Health and have also published our Workforce Disability Equality (WRES) Report (see section below).

The EDS will become part of the system architecture of the NHS and NHS commissioners and providers will be issued with a set of Equality Objectives and Outcomes, against which each NHS organisation will analyse and grade its performance.

Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES)

Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is committed to going beyond the legal requirements by ensuring we make equality, diversity and human rights integral to all of our decisions.  We are therefore implementing the Equality Diversity System (EDS) as agreed by the NHS Equality and Diversity Council (EDC) and the Department of Health and have also published our Workforce Race Equality (WRES) Report (see section above).

The EDS will become part of the system architecture of the NHS and NHS commissioners and providers will be issued with a set of Equality Objectives and Outcomes, against which each NHS organisation will analyse and grade its performance.

The Equality Delivery System (EDS)

The EDS is designed to help NHS organisations improve equality performance and embed equality into mainstream NHS businesses. The EDS is designed for the NHS by the NHS and is based on:

• best practice from across industry, including the Equality Framework for local government
• the views of over 660 people (including patients and staff)
• reviews and reports on equality in the NHS, including guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)
• learning from programmes such as Pacesetters, Breaking Through and Positively Diverse

The EDS applies to all NHS organisations, both current and planned NHS commissioning organisations, including GP Consortia, and to NHS providers including foundation trusts. By using the EDS, organisations will be able to meet the requirements of the Equality Act and be better placed to meet the registration requirements of the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The EDS helps the NHS to deliver on:

• the NHS Outcomes framework
• the right and pledges of the NHS Constitution for patients and staff
• addressing health inequalities in general, improving outcomes and reducing gaps

Objectives

As an outcome from the EDS and working with both internal and external stakeholders, the Trust has identified two main objectives for the next 12 months. These are:

• Continue to develop and maintain communication and partnership working with external groups
• Ensure managers receive appropriate training regarding equality and diversity and people management

You can find more information on the EDS and the work we have been doing below:

The Equality Scheme

The NHS constitution sets out the values of the NHS. Within this, the constitution states that all NHS organisations must provide a comprehensive service available to all and it has a duty to each and every individual that it serves; respecting their human rights. The NHS constitution further sets out that NHS staff have a duty not to discriminate against patients or staff and to adhere to equal opportunities and equality and human rights legislation. This, coupled with the Equality Act 2010, has led the Trust to take a global view of its approach in relation to equality and diversity and to develop a comprehensive Equality Scheme encompassing all aspects of the equality agenda.

For further information on Equality and Diversity please contact Workforce and Organisational Development.
Telephone: 01268 524900 ext 3242.

Gender pay gap

From 7 April 2017 all employers with over 250 staff were required by law to publish figures annually on the difference between the average (mean or median) earnings of men and women they employ. Variably, for public sector bodies in particular, this was effective from 31 March 2018.

The deadline for annual reporting is set as the 30 March. All organisations are required to publish data on this date for the designated date of 31 March for the previous year.

This report therefore focuses on Trust data for the 31 March 2019.

The Gender Pay Gap is not to be confused with equal pay; equal pay relates to the differences in pay between men and women who carry out same jobs, similar jobs or work of equal value while the gender pay gap strictly refers to the average earning of men and women in an organisation.

The reports are  available for download here:

Basildon Hospital Gender Pay Gap Report 2020

Mid Essex Hospitals Gender Pay Gap Report 2020

Southend Hospital Gender Pay Gap Report 2020