Equality, diversity and inclusion
We are committed to ensuring that no job applicant, employee, service user, carer or member of the public is discriminated against, either directly or indirectly, on grounds of:
- Sex / gender
- Marriage / civil partnership status
- Disability (including carer status)
- Race
- Sexual orientation
- Religion or belief
- Age
- Social background
- Pregnancy / maternity status
- Gender reassignment / identity
We want a culture of diversity, fairness and equality for all our employees, potential employees, service users, carers and members of the public. We do this by valuing and celebrating individual differences. This will in turn improve the services we provide and help us on our journey to become a pro-equity organisation. We are proud to be Stonewall Diversity Champions.
Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy covers all aspects of employment including vacancy advertising, the recruitment and selection process, training, conditions of service and termination of employment. To ensure that the policy is operating effectively, the Trust will maintain records of employees' and applicants' age, race, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy/maternity status, marriage/civil partnership status, sex/gender and disability.
We have a People Committee which coordinates and supports implementation and development of our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and associated equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives. Directorate equality groups, along with our thriving staff networks and equality, diversity and inclusion steering groups, also function across the Trust to drive improvements in employment, service delivery, community engagement and accessibility for 'seldom heard' communities.
Part of our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy is to ensure that the composition of our workforce reflects not only the community we serve but also our service users. In reaching this goal we will strive to meet the following challenges:
- to understand, value and welcome diversity throughout the range of services we provide
- to measure, monitor, report on and evaluate our progress in achieving enhanced diversity, inclusion, fairness and equality to inform future service development and employment practice
- to provide an opportunity for staff, service users, patients and carers to engage in the equality, diversity and inclusion agenda
- to support the use of flexible working wherever possible to enable staff to achieve a better work life balance.
Staff networks and steering groups
We have a number of equality, diversity and inclusion networks which provide an opportunity for diverse groups of staff to discuss equality related issues, share good practice, and contribute to Trust policy. These include the:
Networks
- Disabled Staff Network
- EMBRace: BME Staff Network
- LGBT+ Staff Network
We also have a network of over 110 EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) Ambassadors who acts as supporters, champions, and ambassadors for colleagues, helping them share their own voice.
Steering groups
- Diversability Steering Group (Diversity and Age Equality)
- Race, Religion and Belief Equality Steering Group
- Sexual Orientation, Gender and Gender Identity Equality Steering Group
Disability
The Trust is a Disability Confident Employer. This means that we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for any post advertised, providing the applicant has indicated on the application that they have a disability in accordance with the Equality Act 2010. This includes hidden disabilities such as Dyslexia, Autism and Mental Health Issues.
The Trust promotes and supports the employment of people who use our services. As a matter of good practice, we have service user and carer representation in our recruitment processes. For service users who use BSL as their first language this information may be useful (this includes details to our SignVideo Video Relay Service.
Demographic information