We are committed to improving health equity, equality and inclusion across Dorset. This means making sure everyone can access services, has a positive experience of care, and achieves the best possible health outcomes.

10 Year Health Plan

Our commitment

Health inequalities

Impact assessments

Annual reports

Workforce equality

Digital inclusion

Equality Delivery System

Equality case studies

10 Year Health Plan for England

The government’s 10 Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future (GOV.UK) aims to reform the NHS into a more preventive, community-based, and digitally enabled service.

The 10 Year Health Plan identifies three strategic shifts:

  • From treatment to prevention — embedding earlier intervention across chronic disease, screening, and mental health.

  • From hospitals to communities — developing neighbourhood-based multidisciplinary teams to manage demand outside acute settings.

  • From analogue to digital — providing enhanced patient access, experience, and outcomes through a single health record regardless of the point of care and the setting in which it is delivered.

NHS Dorset is working to address health inequalities, and ensure equality of access, experience and outcomes from health care services – while achieving the three shifts outlined above at a neighbourhood, place, and cluster level.

Our commitment to addressing health inequalities and promoting equality, diversity and inclusion

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.

At NHS Dorset, we are committed to undertaking our system leadership role 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.

Our Joint Forward Plan sets out our ambition that Dorset is a healthy place where everyone can live their best life – taking care of bodies and minds to stay well.

Reducing health inequalities

The more negative impacts we experience, the more likely we are to have poor health. Health inequalities are avoidable differences in health between people and communities.

These differences can include:

  • Resources available in the area that we live such as jobs, education, housing etc.

  • Individual factors such as our age, lifestyle, ethnicity, gender etc.

  • Members of vulnerable or marginalised groups such as the homeless, migrants, travelling communities etc.

Equality and health inequalities impact assessments (EHIA)

Equality and Health Inequalities Impact Assessments (EHIA) help ensure services and decisions are fair and inclusive. They assess differences in impact across population groups.

NHS Dorset EHIAs are embedded in planning and delivery and support legal duties and better outcomes.

Annual reports

Our annual reports provide an overview of how NHS Dorset is working to improve fairness, inclusion and health outcomes for local people. They explain what we know about inequalities, what actions we are taking, and how we plan to improve services and experiences for both our communities and workforce.

What these reports cover

  • Understanding inequalities

  • Our legal duties and commitments

  • Progress and evidenced impact

  • Our plans for improvement

Workforce Equality Information

We 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.

Our legal responsibilities are set out in the Equality Act 2010.

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.

Key actions already taken include:

  • To attract and retain a more diverse workforce within NHS Dorset

  • Establish support for BME staff within the organisation and link with local BME Staff Networks as a safe space to raise concerns

  • Ensuring job vacancies are widely publicised within our diverse community groups

  • Collaborating as an integrated care system to develop specific development programmes for our staff from black and minority ethnic backgrounds

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.

More information from our partners:

Accessibility

Accessible communications

We believe our people and communities are at the heart of everything we do and welcome your feedback and involvement to improve the state of health and wellbeing for our people across Dorset. 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.