For information on any part of our Equality Information please contact Emdad Haque, Senior Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager at emdad.haque@nhs.net
Our Equality, Diversity and Human Rights commitments
NCL Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is committed to commissioning the very best care for the diverse population we serve, recognising that services need to be designed with equality, diversity and human rights at the core of business and decision-making.
We are committed to fulfilling our equality duties and obligations to reduce avoidable health inequalities in all aspects of our role and functions. The values underpinning equality, diversity and human rights are central to our policy making, service planning, employment practices and commissioning.
For our staff, we aim to create a working culture that recognises, respects and values differences for the mutual benefit of the organisation and the individual.
Key priorities for 2020-2025
Based on local needs analysis, the CCG has identified the three key service priorities for equality duty. These areas will be the key focus for the annual action plan and Equality Delivery System (EDS2) grading.
Equality Diversity System (EDS2)
The Equality Delivery System (EDS2) is a national best practice toolkit that helps and supports NHS organisations, like CCGs, to monitor and improve the services they commission for local communities. EDS2 has four key goals, with 18 specific outcomes, which we are working with to improve the way in which people from different groups are treated as service users, carers and employees. The EDS2 is used by every NHS organisation in England which means they will be working towards the same set of equality and human rights goals.
Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES)
The NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard was developed and introduced in 2015. Organisations are required to review and report against nine indicators.
The indicators are a mix of NHS staff survey data and the workforce data comparing the experience of BME and white staff. It also compares the governing body data with the workforce and local population data to show how representative the governing body is compared with the CCG workforce and the local population. We have published a progress report with an action plan every year (please see our Equality Information Highlight Reports 2018-19 for the latest version).
Accessible Information Standard (AIS)
The Accessible Information Standard (AIS) aims to make sure people who have a disability, impairment or sensory loss get the information they can access and understand, and any communication support they might need.
This includes making sure people get information in different formats, for example, large print, Braille, easy read; and support such as a British Sign Language interpreter, deafblind manual interpreter or an advocate.
The AIS means that organisations providing health or social care need to ensure five things:
- Ask people if they have any information or communication support needs, and identify how to meet them.
- Record those needs in a set way on the patients’ records.
- Highlight or flag in the person’s file or notes, so it is clear that they have information or communication support needs and details of how to meet those needs.
- Share information about a person’s needs with other NHS and adult social care providers when they have consent to do so.
- Make sure that people get information in an accessible way and communication support if they need it.