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Patient, Service User and Carers Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Strategy 2022-2025 - HTML…

Patient Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Strategy 2022-2025

Hello and welcome

We are delighted to share with you our Patient, Service User and Carers Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Strategy.

This strategy has been designed with our patients and communities at its centre. We acknowledge our role in ensuring our hospitals are accessible and that our services address health inequalities in our community.

The principles of equality, diversity and inclusion are fundamental to the delivery of outstanding, quality patient care and these underpin our vision to ensure the best care for everyone.

As an NHS Foundation Trust and public sector organisation we have a legal and moral duty to promote equality and challenge unlawful discrimination. We also must ensure that the consideration of equality and human rights issues are incorporated into day-to-day practice across our hospitals, as is the right thing to do. As a result, our new Patient Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Strategy builds upon what we have achieved during the past three years. We will focus on developing existing patient priorities with a focus on reducing health inequalities and improving patient health outcomes and experience. In addition, we will continue to position our organisation as an anchor institution in our local communities, embedding social value in all that we do.

This strategy responds to the Trust’s statutory duties of advancing equality of opportunity and fostering good relations between persons who share a protected characteristic and persons who don’t. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted many disproportionate impacts on specific patient groups and as an NHS Foundation Trust we must now take the necessary steps to address inequalities in access to healthcare services. In doing so we will work with our care partners across Cheshire and Merseyside and engage with local community groups.

To develop this strategy, we have involved and engaged with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, including our patients, carers, community partners, advocacy groups, staff and governors. We will ensure that everyone at WHH and the community we serve has an influence in implementing this strategy in order to achieve meaningful change and benefits for everyone in our communities.

This strategy is a fundamental part of our mission to be outstanding for our patients, our communities and each other. I speak on behalf of the Board of Directors outlining the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion for all patients, service users and carers. This strategy will be monitored by our Quality Assurance Committee ensuring it delivers against our strategic objectives.

Simon Constable, Chief Executive Officer

 

At Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, we are committed to designing and delivering our services with the needs of individual patients and their families at the centre. Our quality priorities focus on ensuring our patients are at the heart of all we do by seeing the ‘person’ in the patient.

During engagement with our communities, we recognised the importance of having a strategy which resonates with our local population. We have therefore taken the steps to rename our strategy based on the feedback we have received. By introducing ‘belonging’ we are committed to creating a culture whereby all patients feel they can access and utilise our services freely, without discrimination, harassment or victimisation.

Our Patient, Service User and Carers Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Strategy will be considered alongside related WHH strategies such as Patient Experience, Learning Disability, Mental Health and the Working with People and Community Strategies.

As we introduce our new strategy, it is important to recognise the achievements of the Trust in the past 3 years to invest in equality, diversity and inclusion. We will continue to develop our workforce awareness of the responsibility we play in reducing inequalities and removing barriers in accessing healthcare.

Our new strategy will build on our achievements and focus on four strategic objectives, they are:

  1. We will ensure that people who use our hospitals have equality in access, with our services meeting the individual needs of all.
  2. We will continue to ensure that our services meet the individual needs of all our patients by improving health outcomes for all.
  1. We will focus on improving our internal equality data and take action where inequalities are identified.
  2. We will focus on reducing known health inequalities in our communities by working with our partners and other healthcare providers whilst adding social value.

Kimberley Salmon-Jamieson, Chief Nurse and Deputy Chief Executive

Working with our communities to develop our strategy

We are committed to listening and continually learning from our patients, service users, carers, families and public.

To develop this strategy, we have ensured that we have engaged through multiple formats such as digital surveys, internal focus groups and external workshops. This included working with our patients, staff networks, wider workforce and the public from both Halton and Warrington.

To ensure that our strategy can be delivered in partnership, we have also engaged with local community groups, other public sector services and voluntary groups to design a strategy that is relevant and will continue to improve the outcomes of people in our community.

We focused our engagement by asking three specific questions:

  1. When we say Equality, Diversity and Inclusion – what does this mean to you?
  2. What matters to you when accessing our hospital buildings and services?
  3. What would make you feel comfortable to share your personal demographics, such as, age, sex, ethnicity?

We found the following themes:

  • Reasonable adjustments
  • Equity in access
  • Being seen as a real person
  • Respect, dignity and safety
  • Knowing ‘why’ and ‘how’ information and data will be used
  • Terminology people recognise
  • Safe environment

We have utilised the themes that we found during engagement to develop our priorities under each objective.

Our population

To provide a local population benchmark to patient equality data the Trust utilises available population data for Warrington and Halton. This includes the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA), Office of National Statistics and other data derived from Public Health England.

Quality data underpins all equality and diversity work from identifying priorities to measuring the effectiveness of our actions. The quality of data collection and analysis needs to be improved in order that we may effectively understand our local population and who is using local services.

Continuing to improve the capture and quality of equality data is a key element of our new Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Strategy and will be reflected in our yearly workplans. Each year we will report on our findings in the WHH Equality Duty Assurance Report which is published on the Trust website.

As we benchmark our equality data against our local population, we also monitor equality data of our patients through local and national surveys. This allows us to monitor any disproportionate impacts which may be identified and put actionable steps in place to resolve inequalities.

To ensure that all groups are able to access our feedback methods we will build on and improve our accessibility of feedback tools and work with our community partners to share this across the Warrington and Halton region.

Our role around Human Rights

The Human Rights Act 1998 provides service users with a vehicle through which they can ensure that their human rights are fully taken into account when decisions regarding access to treatment and services are taken.

The principles and corresponding human right:

  • Fairness – Right to a fair trial, for example, fair and transparent complaints procedures
  • Respect – Right to respect for family and private life, for example, respect for same sex families, homelessness and socioeconomic factors
  • Equality – Right not to be discriminated against in the enjoyment of other human rights
  • Dignity – Right to not be treated in an inhumane way, for example, supporting to eat and drink
  • Autonomy – Right to respect, for example, being involved in decisions about care and treatment

Our Strategic Objectives

At Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust our mission is to be outstanding for our patients, our communities and each other.

We pledge that we will always put our patients first, delivering safe and effective care and an excellent patient experience.

The following four objectives highlight how we will ensure the delivery of this strategy meets the Trust mission for our patients, service users and carers.

Objective 1: We will ensure that our services meet the individual needs of all.

Objective 2: We will ensure that people who use our hospitals have equality in access, with our services meeting the individual needs of all

Objective 3: We will focus on improving the recording of equality data

Objective 4: We will focus on reducing health inequalities and add social value

Strategic Objective 1

Our Pledge: We will ensure that people who use our hospitals have equality in access, with our services meeting the individual needs of all.

What we plan to do

How it will be achieved

Improve access to our hospitals and services for people who have known inequalities in accessing healthcare
  • Continue to develop communication tools to improve access to our hospitals
  • Review the effectiveness of our Interpretation and Translation tools and increase our workforce awareness of accessing them
  • Create communication passports which enable people to share their communication needs
  • Creation of the Transgender Clinical Best Practice policy

Engage with the diverse communities that we serve
  • A wider representation of patients, community partners and advocacy groups at internal meetings and committees
  • Attend a wider range of external engagement groups
  • Experts by Experience involved in local quality improvement work across our services

Focus on equality of access to our hospital’s facilities and services with patients consistently reporting very good or excellent feedback
  • New estate plans will have involvement of patients and the EDI Team to ensure the patient voice is the centre of all change
  • Positive patient feedback when accessing services
  • Collaborative engagement with patients, service users and carers when completing service change
  • Quality assurance of equality impact assessments for service change and revenue business cases

Ensure full compliance with the Accessible Information Standards (AIS)
  • Complete rollout of the AIS policy
  • Monitor compliance against the AIS at internal meetings
  • Develop digital innovations to improve recording of communication needs

Strategic Objective 2

Our Pledge: We will continue to ensure that our services meet the individual needs of all our patients by improving health outcomes for all.

What we plan to do

How it will be achieved

Address inequalities in specific patient groups learning from local and national engagement to improve health outcomes
  • Ensure equality impact assessment (EIA) tools are used to inform decision-making at all levels
  • Ensure learning from EIAs is shared widely
  • Periodical reviews of the EIA process and quarterly updates to appropriate committees
  • Learn from national enquiries and research to improve outcomes for our patients
  • In line with the Patient Safety Improvement Framework encourage an improvement culture including equality and health inequality themes

Embed positive health promotion programmes across the region through social and environmental interventions
  • We will understand where inequalities are experienced in our communities and target support and action to address them through health promotion programmes
  • We will work with our Engagement and Involvement Team to share health messages to improve outcomes
  • We will collaborate with our communities and identify learning through the Equality Delivery System

Improve our workforce awareness of equality, diversity and inclusion, ensuring all our communities can access our hospitals freely without barriers
  • Develop a range of training programmes on equality, diversity and inclusion
  • Monitor compliance with equality, diversity and inclusion training at internal meetings
  • Work with local community partners to raise awareness of local inequalities in access
  • Create a resource of digital patient stories to ensure learning from experience
  • Ward and department-based champions for Patient Experience, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging

Strategic Objective 3

Our Pledge: We will focus on improving our internal equality data and take action where inequalities are identified.

What we plan to do

How it will be achieved

Improve the recording of patient equality data on our electronic patient record system
  • We will work with local community groups and Staff Networks to create information packs of “why equality data is requested” to increase recording
  • We will design and deliver training on why equality data is captured
  • We will launch a communication campaign with our patients and service users to improve equality monitoring

Develop patient equality dashboards to allow for enhanced monitoring of equality data
  • We will report on our equality data to internal committees with actions to address inequalities
  • We will use equality dashboards to enable effective analysis of our services
  • We will use our internal equality data to improve services across our hospitals

Triangulate patient equality data against local intelligence (such as: wait lists, incidents, complaints, PALS) to identify inequalities
  • We will monitor equality data against incidents, complaints and PALS and report this quarterly to appropriate committees
  • We will analyse wait list data to highlight if inequalities are identified and report on actions to address them

Work collaboratively across Cheshire and Merseyside to improve outcomes using data
  • Collaborative working for the Equality Delivery System with NHS Trusts across Cheshire and Merseyside
  • Engage with the Patient Equality Focused Forum to deliver innovation to improve experience for all patients across the region

Strategic Objective 4

Our Pledge: We will focus on reducing known health inequalities in our communities by working with our partners and other healthcare providers whilst adding social value.

What we plan to do

How it will be achieved

Establish WHH as an Anchor Institute in the local community
  • Work strategically to identify opportunities for new services and ensure robust equality impact assessments are completed
  • Achievement of external charter marks which represent WHH as an open and inclusive healthcare provider

Proactively and systematically work to reduce health inequalities at PLACE level
  • Work collaboratively with the community to improve the experience of all people
  • Review health inequality data across the Halton and Warrington boroughs and take action to improve outcomes
  • We will support our population to access preventative and early intervention services

Work with NHS organisations across the Cheshire and Merseyside footprint to reduce inequalities
  • Collaborate with NHS Trusts to effectively complete the Equality Delivery System (EDS) domain 1 to improve outcomes for patients
  • Engage with the Local Maternity and Neonatal System to improve equality and equity in maternity care
  • Use internal patient experience data to influence wider system working

Promote opportunities to add social value into our communities
  • We will bring together social groups in the local region to enable peer support
  • Development of an equality, diversity and inclusion calendar of events annually
  • We will collaborate with our local volunteers to improve access to our hospitals and enable opportunities for future work

Assurance and Monitoring

The delivery of the strategic objectives outlined in the Patient, Service User and Carers Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Strategy will be monitored at the Patient Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Sub-Committee which is chaired by the Chief Nurse and Deputy Chief Executive.

This will report into the Quality Assurance Committee for strategic oversight and Trust Board for assurance as appropriate.

Patient Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Sub-Committee

Assurance updates are provided monthly by Care Groups and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion leads on the delivery of this Strategy.

This is reported to the Quality Assurance Committee.

 

            Quality Assurance Committee

As a Sub-Trust Board meeting, the Quality Assurance Committee will regularly review the monitoring of our progress against the objectives in this strategy. This will ensure that it is delivered effectively.

Through delivery of the Patient, Service User and Carers Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Strategy the Trust will undertake compliance with statutory reporting related to patients.

This will include the Equality Duty Assurance Report (EDAR) and the Equality Delivery System (EDS) annually.

To maintain a Trust wide approach to the successful delivery of equality, diversity and inclusion this strategy will be delivered in conjunction with the Workforce Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2022-2025.

This is monitored at Workforce Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Sub-Committee, chaired by the Chief People Officer with subsequent reporting to Strategic People Committee and Trust Board for oversight and assurance.

The Trust will refresh and update its equality objectives on a three yearly basis in line with the public sector equality duty. This strategy will be in effect from July 2022 to July 2025.

Our duty as a Public Sector Organisation

Legal requirements

Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society.

Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED)

(effective from April 2011)

The Public sector equality duty requires organisations to have due regard when carrying out its functions under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 to:

    1. eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Equality Act 2010;
    2. advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it;
    3. foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.

The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011 require public authorities to also publish:

  1. equality objectives
  2. information to demonstrate their compliance

Human Rights Act 1998

The Human Rights Act 1998 sets out the fundamental rights and freedoms that everyone in the UK is entitled to.

Accessible Information Standards

(effective from August 2016)

The Accessible Information Standard sets out a specific, consistent approach to identifying, recording, flagging, sharing and meeting the information and communication support needs of patients, service users, carers and parents with a disability, impairment or sensory loss.

National standards and reporting

Equality Delivery System

Is a system that helps NHS organisations improve the services they provide for their local communities and provide better working environments, free of discrimination, for those who work in the NHS, while meeting the requirements of the Equality Act 2010.

Equality Duty Assurance Report (EDAR)

The EDAR sets out the commitment of NHS organisations in how it meets the Public sector equality duty, building upon progress achieved under previous equality schemes and directives.

Sexual Orientation Monitoring Standard

The Sexual Orientation Monitoring information standard provides a consistent mechanism for recording the sexual orientation of all patients/service users aged 16 years across all health services in England.
     

 

References:

Glossary of Terms

Health Inequalities

Health inequalities are avoidable, unfair and systematic differences in health between groups of people.

Experts by Experience

People with experience of using services who participate in the work of the Trust to develop services in a way that meets the need of all.

Patient Equality Data

Specific patient data split by protected characteristic or demographic.

Equality Dashboards

A tool used to review and analyse patient equality data.

Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) or Equality Analysis

A tool that is used to ensure due regard is recorded in respect of decision making, policies, procedures, and strategic and operational decisions.

Due Regard

A principle of good practice for public functions to keep an accurate record showing that they have considered the general equality duty.

Discrimination

The unequal, unfair or unjust treatment of different groups of people on the grounds of their protected characteristic.

Harassment

Unwanted behaviour which relates to a relevant protected characteristic with the purpose of creating a hostile or offensive environment.

Victimisation

The act of singling someone out for cruel or unjust treatment.

Anchor Institute

A term used to refer to an organisation which has an important presence and influence in its community.

PLACE

Working at a local level in the community in conjunction with partners in care.

Social Value

A term used to refer to an organisation which has the opportunity to generate benefits in its community, society and local economy.

The protected characteristics covered under the Equality Act 2010 are:

  • Age
  • Disability
  • Gender reassignment
  • Marriage and civil partnership
  • Pregnancy and maternity
  • Race
  • Religion or belief
  • Sex
  • Sexual orientation

The Trust also ensures that due regard is given to other vulnerable groups – looking into the realms of socioeconomic factors, such as, but not limited to:

  • Carers
  • Deprived Communities
  • Homelessness
  • Education
  • Language
  • Health inequalities
  • Military Veterans
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