Updates and examples
Our commitment to addressing health inequalities and promoting equality, diversity and inclusion
At NHS Dorset, we are committed to undertaking our system leadership role, including in relation to our public sector and general equality duties, and our duty to have due regard to the need to address health inequalities. To ensure that everyone in Dorset has fair access, experience and outcomes from our services. This includes through commissioning (designing and buying) health services that respect and respond to the diversity of our local population.
We know that different people have different needs, and we want to make sure that everyone gets the support they need to be healthy. We think it’s important to treat everyone fairly and recognise that equality isn’t about treating everyone the same, instead it is about ensuring that. good outcomes are available to everyone, from all backgrounds.
We also want to make sure that our workplaces are welcoming and kind places where everyone feels valued, has access to good career opportunities and development and feel that they belong. We work closely with our partner organisations in Dorset to make sure that all our workplaces are inclusive and fair.
These pages provide detailed information on all the things we are doing to ensure our health and care services are meeting the needs of our local communities and are refreshed annual to inform our annual equality, diversity and inclusion report. Our equality, diversity and inclusion work is part of a wider programme to address health inequalities, and ensure equality of access, experience and outcomes from health care services.
Our legal responsibilities are set out in the Equality Act 2010.
Health inequalities are differences in how healthy some groups or communities are, compared with others. They don’t happen by chance, but because of the conditions in which we are born, grow, work and live.
These conditions include:
The more negative impacts we experience, the more likely we are to have poor health.
More information on the wider action we are taking, our approach to addressing health inequalities, and how we work with our partners to address differences in access to our services, and our future plans is available in our Health Inequalities Annual Report.
Further supporting resources are also available on our cross-system ‘Our Dorset’ website.
NHS Dorset ICB Health inequalities annual report 2024
The Health Inequalities report provides detailed information on variation across 24 domains (areas of work) for a number of population groups – this includes the protected characteristics of age, gender, ethnicity/race and disability within specific service areas.
Service areas looked at in the report include planned hospital stays, outpatients services, and emergency use of healthcare services, waiting times, flu and covid vaccination, mental health services, cardio vascular disease, cancer, diabetes, maternity services, oral health, services for people with learning disability or autistic people.
This is a new report recently requested by NHS England. We will use the information from this years report to help us to improve our ability to understand differences in access and outcomes from health and care services, and further develop improvement plans and focus our efforts where we identify issues.
In future reports, we will look to include further analysis by other protected characteristics or inequalities groups where information is available.
Annual Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Report 2024-2025
We are pleased to present our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual update produced for NHS Dorset Integrated Care Board in this accessible format.
Accessible communications
We want to make it as easy as possible for people to get involved in our work and find out more about local health services.
If you need information in an alternative format, such as easy read, large print, Braille, audio or an alternative language, please let us know by contacting the communications and engagement team via feedback@nhsdorset.nhs.uk or call 01305 368900.
This site sets out how NHS Dorset delivers upon its commitment to taking equality, diversity and inclusion into account in all we do, from commissioning (designing and delivering) services, employment, developing policies and engaging with our local communities.
Introduction
Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report sets out how we have performed in meeting our legal duties as set out in the Equality Act (2010) and in meeting our Public Sector Equality Duties. The information presented in this report represents the progress we have made in incorporating equality, diversity and inclusion into all aspects of our work in the last year.
The publication of this report and the information contained within the pages on this site demonstrate compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty and requirements to publish equality information annually.
The information contained in the pages of this online report set out:
Legal duties for equality and inclusion
This section outlines the various legal requirements and NHS England Mandated Standards relating to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.
The Equality Act (2010)
The Equality Act was introduced in 2010 to make it easier for people and organisations to understand discrimination law. The Act provides protection to groups of people who may be discriminated against because of certain characteristics they share; and provides a legal framework to protect the rights of individuals and advance equality of opportunity for all. Further information.
The Public Sector Equality Duty
The Equality Act 2010 brought a new Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) requiring public bodies to declare their compliance with the duty on an annual basis. This means that we must show compliance with both the general and specific duties of the PSED.
For the general duty we need to show how we are having due regard to the need to:
Protected characteristics – in the context of the PSED – are defined as:
Human Rights Act (1998)
The Human Rights Act (1998) came into effect in the United Kingdom in October 2000. The act requires ICBs to ensure that their commissioning decisions safeguard vulnerable people, and do not put people’s lives at risk or expose them to inhumane or degrading treatment.
Health and Social Care Act (2012)
The Health and Social Care Act (2012) states that each ICB must, in the exercise of its functions, have regard to the need to:
NHS Constitution (2015)
The NHS Constitution (2015) sets out rights for patients, the public and staff. It outlines NHS commitments to patients and staff, and the responsibilities that the public, patients and staff owe to one another to ensure that the NHS operates fairly and effectively. NHS Constitution targets are monitored via the ICB’s Quality Committee, and further assurances are provided to the Board.
NHS Mandated Equality Standards
Our ICB workforce
NHS Dorset ICB is committed to holding up to date information about its workforce, in line with current data protection legislation, to help ensure that strategic decisions affecting the workforce are based on accurate reporting.
Learning and development opportunities
NHS Dorset has a clear People Development Plan to support delivery of the NHS Dorset People Plan. The mission of the Learning and Development Plan and team is to “Provide equitable opportunities for you and your teams to learn, grow and develop, enabling everyone to be at their best self at work”
Our staff are encouraged to discuss and agree learning and development opportunities with their managers and these include undertaking specific workshops, attending conferences and events and identifying areas for on the job development.
Through the ICS EDI programme, linked to the Dorset ICS People Plan, the ICB is committed to increasing the learning and development opportunities and improving career development for individuals who are from groups who are under-represented within our workforce and for developing cultures of equity and inclusion. Working closely with our partners, specific examples of collaborative EDI development opportunities include:
The programme brings senior leaders from across our system together, supporting them develop as agents of change. It is a significant step in helping us reduce health inequities and embed action on equality in all that we do by empowering leaders to influence and develop cultures of pro-equity and inclusion for our staff and population. The topics of the programme focus on “Seeing, Responding and Leading Differently”.
Feedback so far from participants indicates that the programme is helping to shift their thinking and perspectives and building their confidence to take new and different actions to reduce biases, exclusion, and discrimination across our system, and in turn help reduce health inequalities.
This image is a photograph of 25 course attendees and tutors outside the training venue.
With our partners we have collaboratively co-designed two training sessions that will be launched this spring to staff across our ICS to support and enhance knowledge in key concepts that are vital to foster a culture of inclusion and belonging for our workforce.
Course objectives
| Conscious inclusions | Leading for inclusion |
|---|---|
| Explain the concepts of cultural competence, bias, discrimination, racism, microaggressions and privilege | Understand the impact of inclusive leadership on team member experience |
| Demonstrate awareness of the experiences of our staff from underrepresented backgrounds and NHS obligations | Identify examples of inclusive leadership within their day-to-day practice |
| Develop communication skills and self-awareness to have culturally sensitive conversations | Review team culture and identify areas to enhance inclusive practice |
| Recognise your own biases and differences to better support staff | Initiate compassionate conversations with team members to enhance inclusive cultures and recognise needs of others |
| Apply understanding of tools to breakdown cultural barriers | To understand leadership best practice when supporting diversity across their team/services |
Testimonials
Over 500 of our staff, including the ICB Board, have played our innovative board game which enables participants to consider the real life challenges that different population groups might face in getting the best health outcomes.
More than 350 people across the ICB, our hospitals, general practices and the voluntary and community sector have participated in more intensive health inequalities and population health management training. We have trained 64 Ambassadors across the NHS, local authority and voluntary sector. We our currently working with community sector partners across Dorset to review and add to the scenario’s and characters we use in our PHM game to make sure it continues to reflect the lived experience of our diverse population.
Our ambition is that we will have a skills and capability offer targeted to the opportunities they have in their job, for everyone that has a role in improving health, across our system.
This image shows four different kinds of training available through our health inequalities and population health management programme. It includes an interactive board game, a two hour session for people new to the subject area, a one day course for people who might lead at team undertaking a piece of work, and a train the trainer course for people who’s main job is supporting people to improve the quality of services
Alongside the health inequalities and PHM training, colleagues across the system have led the development of specific learning offers.
For example:
- Dorset Health Care has developed training for junior doctors
- Allied Health Professional colleagues are focussing on skills and knowledge that their staff, who tend to have more than one off contact with patients, need to embed action on health inequalities into their job
- Public Health Dorset supported by the ICB has led on the development of Health Literacy training
Learning from these programmes will form core components of the training offer for everyone with a similar opportunity (e.g. one off contact, extended contact with service users etc.)
We strive to keep staff well informed and involved in key decisions and priorities of the organisation. This has been particularly important in the first few years of the ICBs establishment. The following methods are used to communicate, engage and involve staff:
- Daily FYI updates sent via email, with links to our staff intranet pages
- Weekly CEO and chief officer blogs
- Fortnightly team brief cascade
- Quarterly FYI Live events
- Staff intranet – FYI SharePoint – with a wide range of information around EDI, learning and development, health and wellbeing, latest news, policies, documents, events and more
- Inclusion calendar which outlines a wide range of EDI focused awareness days, celebrations and areas of focus for the month
- Your Voice Forum for representatives across various directorates to meet for updates and feedback monthly
- Staff networks, freedom to speak up guardians and wellbeing champions
Our Pro Ability Network raises the profile and awareness of the issues faced by staff living with a disability or long-term condition and also those with responsibilities as a carer. The network plays a key role in shaping and developing an open, positive, and inclusive working culture.
The Pro Ability Network has achieved much since its establishment in July 2023, and has run a number of in-person and online events during the year including:
- Say hello drop in sessions
- Meet and greet with the network chief officer sponsor
- Talk on autism
- Established a mental wealth group
- Celebrated an event for Carers Rights Day
- Established a carer connecting group
- Developed a reasonable adjustments passport
- Neurodiversity celebration week campaign
Cultural Diversity Network
Our newly renamed Cultural Diversity Network is a vibrant and welcoming space, open to staff from all ethnic backgrounds. The network is committed to fostering a sense of belonging, offering support, and facilitating meaningful dialogue among colleagues.
Led by a dedicated network chair and supported by a chief officer sponsor, the network continues to grow, offering a platform where all members can connect. We host regular meetings and events aimed at celebrating our diverse workforce and promoting equality for all.
Some of our recent initiatives include:
- Monthly meetings to share ideas and support one another
- Safe space sessions for open, honest conversations among members
- Celebrations such as Black History Month and Race Equalities Week, featuring thought-provoking events and discussions
Everyone is welcome, and we encourage all to participate.
LGBTQ+ is a staff network with an aim of raising awareness and the profile of LGBTQ+ issues and colleagues in the workplace and to ensure that there are visible role models at different levels of the organisation. The network provides a safe space for peer-to-peer support and is a critical friend for the ICB, informing our EDI activities and actions to ensure we are providing a more inclusive working environment for staff.
Activities and events the network have supported during 2023-2024 include:
- Bourne Free Pride in the Park with our system partners networks
- Celebrating LGBTQ+ History month including reaching out to the ‘Space Youth Project’ and asking for shared lived experiences of accessing health care services which we shared with our staff
- Regular blogs and educational updates from our network members sharing their experiences and raising awareness
- Online Trans awareness talk from a former army offer with over 40 years lived experience of being trans and gender diverse
- Regular network meetings and listening events with their chief officer sponsor
Following the introduction of the Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) in 2015, every NHS organisation has been required to submit individual annual WRES data returns to NHS England on an annual basis. Similarly, since 2018, NHS Trusts have been required to submit Workforce Race Disability Standard (WDES) data returns to NHS England.
In August 2023, NHS Dorset ICB worked with NHS Provider Trusts within the ICS to produce a collated WRES and WDES system report. The aim of the report was to analyse performance and progress against each of the indicators and identify priority areas for improvement and opportunities for targeted and collaborative action in line with our ICS People Plan.
The report demonstrated there are pockets of good performance, however identified some areas where there are opportunities for improvement such as:
- Ensuring equal representation across all pay bands, including board level
- Ensuring ethnically diverse and disabled staff feel that they are provided with equal opportunities for career progression
- Improving the experiences of ethnically diverse and disabled staff in relation to bullying, harassment and abuse
Working with local communities
We are committed to ensuring that we promote equity by keeping the needs of our communities at the heart of our commissioning and system leadership role.
We believe, as is reflected in our planning and ethos, that healthcare provision on an equitable discrimination-free basis is the right of all in Dorset.
NHS Dorset takes seriously the particular needs that members of diverse communities or those groups who share protected characteristics and are more likely to have poorer health have. We believe, as is reflected in our planning and ethos, that healthcare provision on an equitable discrimination-free basis is the right of all in Dorset.
Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy has at its heart a commitment to keeping the needs of our diverse communities at the centre of our purpose as an ICB role. This includes tackling as effectively as possible health inequalities by having appropriate actions to take in place.
Our mission, ‘Supporting people in Dorset to lead healthier lives’, means that we need to work with a range of communities and populations to support them in accessing and using local health services. We need to increase knowledge about healthcare needs to enable our communities to lead healthier lives. We work closely with local people, patients, providers, staff and voluntary organisations to help reduce inequalities and eliminate any discrimination within our services and working environments.
NHS Dorset’s strategic approach for working with people and communities underpins how we work with communities to promote equity and address health inequalities. It includes a specific section which provides more details on how we are working with people and communities to reduce health inequalities.
Our Dorset Public Engagement Group created a diagram to illustrate that service provision starts with local people.
Our equality objectives
Progress against our 2023-2024 equality objectives
In 2023 we defined a set of equality objectives designed to set out a range of initial commitments in relation to EDI while the emerging ICB and system continued to develop and firm up its long-term priorities and plans. Our objectives were informed by our 2023 EDS grading exercise, insights from staff and stakeholders, our NHS Dorset People Plan and Dorset ICS People Plan, the South West Regional Leading for Inclusion Strategy, NHSEs High Impact Actions and our WRES and WDES metrics.
Progress against our 2023-2024 objectives includes:
| Objective | Action taken |
|---|---|
| Objective 1: our commissioned and provided services will meet the needs of our diverse population. |
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| Objective 2: Our workforce will see improvements in health, well-being, and diverse representation. |
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| Objective 3: Our leaders will demonstrate a clear and strong commitment to EDI in all they do. |
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We are working with our staff networks and EDI Steering group to review data and insights and develop an action plan to deliver these objectives and will report back on progress against these objectives with metrics in March 2025.
Equality Impact Assessments (EIA)
An equality impact assessment is a process we use to help us to check whether our services or policies might potentially impact differently on some groups who share one or more of the characteristics protected by law (Equality Act 2010), compared with those who don’t share that characteristic. For example, to check whether people from different age groups, ethnicities or gender access or benefit equally from a service. It is one of the ways in which we check whether we are meeting both our legal duties, and our own ambitions to make sure that everyone in Dorset has fair access, experience and outcomes from our services.
We have recently reviewed our equality impact assessment approach and processes, and brought it together with other work which helps us to understand the quality of our services, and which help to identify whether other groups have poorer poorer access, experience or outcomes from our services, such as people who experience social deprivation, or other vulnerabilities. This has resulted in a new System Quality, Equality, Equity, Impact Assessment process (SQEEIA).
It is desirable and good practice to undertake equality impact assessments as part of our commitment to patients, staff and the public, to consider the impact that our policies, strategies or plans may have on our equality groups (protected characteristics). NHS Dorset recognises that this is a continuous process and these assessments are updated to reflect the status of the programmes.
To ensure that EIAs (SQEEIA) are completed and the correct governance is followed we have undertaken the following:
We also include an extra layer of check and challenge, with selected EIAs reviewed by an external assessor. Our EIA Public Engagement Group lay advisor provides advice and guidance.
Equality Impact Assessments (SQEEIA) are live documents. This means that they are constantly being reviewed. Here you will find examples of both fully complete EIAs and those that are still being developed alongside their projects. Over the course of 2024/25 we will be further developing this so that all equality impact assessments (SQEEIAs) are published here.
Equality Delivery System 2024
NHS Dorset ICB are pleased to have completed Domains 1, 2 and 3 of the Equality Delivery System (EDS) and overall have achieved a rating of “Achieving” as at March 2024.
EDS is focused around three ‘Domains’:
Overall draft EDS rating 2024 – 22 – Achieving
We have made a good start in reviewing and updating our approach to the equality delivery system which has given us a good foundation for our planned comprehensive work programme next year.
Equality Delivery System domain 1 review
Supporting information
EDS 1 additional information – Palliative and End of Life Care
Equality Delivery System domain 2 and 3 review and action plan
Equality monitoring
All NHS providers that NHS Dorset contracts with undertake an annual equality compliance review. The table provides a snapshot of the current position of each of the main NHS providers following a review of their websites.
| Commissioned provider | Equality objectives | Published equality information | EDS undertaken in 2024 | Published WRES report | Published WDES report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University Hospital Dorset NHS Foundation Trust | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Dorset HealthCare NHS Foundation Trust | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Workforce Equality Information
The NHS Equality and Diversity Council announced in July 2014 that it had agreed action to ensure employees from black and ethnic minority (BME) backgrounds have equal access to career opportunities and receive fair treatment in the workplace.
NHS Dorset will continue to publish local equality reports including WRES (Workforce Race Equality Standard) and WDES (Workforce Disability Equality Standard) on an annual basis and previous CCG reports can be accessed on request.
NHS Dorset has incorporated the actions identified from the WRES report into the overarching Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy action plan. Key actions already taken include:
More information
The Five Year Forward View sets out a direction of travel for the NHS – much of which depends on the health service embracing innovation, engaging and respecting staff, and drawing on the immense talent in our workforce.
We know that care is far more likely to meet the needs of all the patients we’re here to serve when NHS leadership is drawn from diverse communities across the country, and when all our frontline staff are themselves free from discrimination. These new mandatory standards will help NHS organisations to achieve these important goals.
The evidence is clear that treating all healthcare staff fairly and with respect is good for patient care. When black and minority ethnic staff, who make up a large minority of nurses, doctors and other NHS staff, are treated fairly it improves patient experience and patient safety. The Workforce Race Equality Standard encourages, and where necessary requires, all NHS providers to treat all black and minority ethnic staff fairly and ensure their full talents are used. It is good news for patients and for staff that NHS organisations have adopted this ground breaking evidence-based approach.
Contract monitoring
The NHS Standard Contract for Service Conditions SC13 and SC14 includes rules about equality that NHS service providers have to follow. This includes things like following the Public Sector Equality Duty, using EDS2, following the Workforce Race Equality Standard, and implementing the Accessible Information Standard. These requirements apply to all NHS-funded services.
Accessibility
Accessible communications
We want to make it as easy as possible for people to get involved in our work and find out more about local health services.
If you need information in an alternative format, such as easy read, large print, Braille, audio or an alternative language, please let us know by contacting the communications and engagement team via feedback@nhsdorset.nhs.uk or call 01305 368900.
Accessible Information Standard
Since August 1 2016 onwards, all organisations that provide care or adult social care have been legally required to follow the Accessible Information Standard. ICBs are expected to give consideration to the duty and ensure their providers are meeting this standard. NHS Dorset monitors the process through contract monitoring.
The Standard aims to make sure that people who have a disability, impairment or sensory loss are provided with information that they can easily read and understand or have the support needed so they can communicate effectively with health and social care services.
Further information on the Standard can be found on the NHS England website.
Downloads
Please note: As part of the transition to NHS Dorset ,we are reviewing our vison, focus and approaches around inclusion moving forward; and further updates and documents will be shared as we progress.
