Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) is central to the work of NHS Frimley to ensure equality of access to and treatment by the services that we commission, in collaboration with our strategic partners, on behalf of the population to reduce inequalities and address health inequalities.

We are committed to becoming an organisation which is pro-diversity and anti-discriminatory, where everyone’s diversity is valued and appreciated

The role of EDI is central to NHS Frimley's and Frimley Health and Care Integrated Care System's values, processes and behaviours. We will outline this in our Equality and Diversity Strategy. We will ensure that NHS Frimley as a public body will meet its duty to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, foster good relations and reduce health inequalities.  This duty applies to staff, service users, patients, carers, our partners and stakeholders, and members of the public who NHS Frimley come into contact with.

Please read our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy Statement here which gives a clear direction to all and gives definitions of the terms equality, diversity and inclusion.

As an NHS organisation we aim to:

• Ensure staff fully understand equality and diversity issues
• Feel empowered to challenge prejudice and make reasonable adjustments in their own work areas
• Include equality and diversity training for all staff
• To ensure all staff promote the cultural and behavioural changes to ensure equality and diversity is demonstrated in all aspects of NHS Frimley's work
• Provide an environment for our staff which is free from unlawful discrimination

The purpose of setting specific, measurable equality objectives is for the organisation and employees to better perform the general equality duties.  Equality objectives should help focus attention on the priority equality issues within the organisation, to deliver improvements in policy-making, service delivery and employment, including resource allocation.

Each year NHS Frimley will self-assess itself against the Equality Objectives and publish the assessment the website. It is the intention to report on the equality objectives and other equality information every year to demonstrate the progress made and what still needs to be done. The equality objectives will be reviewed and updated every four years.

NHS Frimley’s commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion is driven by the principles of the NHS Constitution, the Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights Act 1998, and also the duties of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to reduce workplace and health inequalities, advance patient engagement and involve and consult with the public. 

We use the NHS Equality Delivery System 2 (EDS2) and Equality and Health Inequalities Analysis (EHIAs) to help us to meet our legal requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty which is set out in the Equality Act 2010. There are three strands to the Public Sector Equality Duty. These are to: 

• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act
• advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not
• foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not

The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Annual Report for 2023-2024 meets our Public Sector Equality Duty to report on equality information within the Integrated Care Board and, where available, the Integrated Care System. Click here to read our full report.

Our condensed report details our Community demographics, Workforce demographics including Workforce Race and Disability Equality Standards, EDI Strategic Objectives, and next steps in 2024. Click here to read our short report.

To read specific information from our report, please click the document titles below:

• Case Studies: Equality Delivery System & Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Improvement Plan
• Case Studies: Equality and Human Rights Commission Monitoring Project
• Pay Gap Report
• Workforce Disability Equality Standard Action Plan
• Workforce Race Equality Standard Action Plan

We believe that in order to embed equality and diversity in NHS Frimley, we need to start with good education across the organisation.  We provide access to training for all new staff members including a corporate induction programme.

All employees at NHS Frimley are required to conduct Equality and Health Inequalities Analysis (EHIAs) when designing, changing or decommissioning policies and services within the Frimley Integrated Care System.

NHS Frimley has developed a new toolkit which takes account of our legal duties as well as good practice. An EHIA is a way to assess the impact of new or existing policies/services on particular groups of people, to find out if there is a positive, negative or neutral outcome and make reasonable changes where possible.  It is an opportunity to identify possible disadvantages, decide if they are discriminatory and the extent to which discrimination can be eliminated, minimised or justified. We also use EHIAs as a way of ensuring and evidencing that we are meeting our legal duties in respect of equality.

We understand that there are times where a person's health outcomes will differ on the grounds of certain characteristics.  In an attempt to address this we work closely with community groups that represent particular characteristics. This close working allows us to gather patient and public experience, which in turn informs our commissioning.  This is designed to complement our public engagement activity. For more information on public engagement activities, visit our Getting Involved section of the website.

The Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) programme was established in 2015 and is a national standard put in place to help NHS organisations, like NHS Trusts and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), achieve the important goals of drawing leadership from the diverse communities they serve and ensuring frontline staff are free from discrimination.

NHS Frimley’s Standard WRES action plan, forms an important and integral part of NHS Frimley Organisational Development and People Plan. Tackling inequality for NHS Frimley’s Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (B.A.M.E.) staff is essential to ensure that we support, nurture, and develop our people and enable the community within NHS Frimley to be the best we can be in a safe and inclusive environment.

To read the full WRES Action Plan please click here.

The Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) enables NHS organisations to better understand the experiences of their Disabled staff and supports positive change for all existing employees by creating a more inclusive environment for Disabled people working and seeking employment in the NHS. We will undertake annual analysis against the indicators of the NHS Workforce Disability Equality Standard.

We also intend to report and publish data annually against the gender pay gap and ethnic pay gap as a matter of good practice.

The reporting on equality metrics will help us to achieve our ambition to fully embed a diverse and inclusive culture, make NHS Frimley an even better place to work and better align to the ICS equality ambitions.