Equality, Diversity & Human Rights

NHS Forth Valley is committed to promoting human rights and providing equality of opportunity; not only in our employment practices but also in the way we deliver services. We aim to recognise and support people’s individual needs.

Our vision is to be a just and inclusive organisation in which everyone that receives services or works for us has the opportunity to fulfill their potential.

This cannot be achieved if there is prejudice, discrimination, alienation, or social exclusion. Services need to be accessible, appropriate and sensitive to the needs of all service users.

No-one should be excluded or experience particular difficulty in accessing and effectively using our services due to their age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity, race/ethnicity, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

As an Equal Opportunities employer we strive to have staff with the right skills to deliver equitable and quality services. We are committed to ensuring that our employees are not discriminated against and are appropriately supported in the workplace.

Equality Act 2010

As a public sector organisation, NHS Forth Valley is statutorily required to ensure that equality, diversity and human rights are embedded into all our functions and activities as per the Equality Act 2010 Public Sector Duties and the Human Rights Act 1998.

In the exercise of our functions we will continue to ensure that we:

Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other prohibited conduct.
Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not.
Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

This means that we will continue to:

Work towards ensuring that people protected by the Equality Act 2010 are not disadvantaged.
Take steps to meet the needs of people from protected groups.
Encourage people from protected groups to participate in public life or in other activities where their participation is disproportionately low.
Ensure that each member of staff is aware of their responsibility in regards to the equality needs of our communities.

Protected groups covered by the Equality Act 2010 are:

The Act extends some protection to groups not previously covered and strengthens particular aspects of equality law. As a result, we have reviewed many of our policies and practices.

What is Equality, Diversity and Human Rights?

Equality is about creating a fairer society where everyone has an equal level of opportunity to participate and to fulfill their potential as an individual.

Diversity is about recognising and valuing differences to be found between individuals. Diversity results from differences including age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, marriage & civil partnerships, pregnancy & maternity, race/ethnicity, religion/belief, and sexual orientation, employment circumstances or background.

All of these factors provide different experiences, perspectives and knowledge, which in turn can be of value to other people or organisations.

Human Rights Act – As identified within Human Rights and the Right to Health Briefing December 2016, we will ensure that we give due regard to the Human Rights Act 1998 [HRA]. In delivering services which are compatible with the HRA, we continue to be committed to undertaking human rights based approach in line with PANEL principles:

Participation, Accountability, Non-discrimination, Empowerment, and Legality

Public Sector Duty: NHS Forth Valley’s Mainstreaming Report 2017-21

Our NHS Forth Valley Mainstreaming Report 2017-21 outlines the challenges and opportunities we face and identifies how we can address the former and embrace the latter. It recognises our past and current efforts on equality and diversity issues, and provides a tangible vision for the future.

This approach provides a solid foundation for current and future work and will assure the NHS Forth Valley commitment to tackling inequalities as identified within the Equality Act (2010) Specific Duties. This will include evidence on the steps that are legally required, as well as recommended actions.

These are:

How we mainstream the equality duty
Publish a new set of equality outcomes 2017-21 which are:
1. NHS Forth Valley staff and service users can identify hate crimes and incidents and are confident in reporting them
2. Within NHS Forth Valley people from the LGBTI community will not experience barriers to accessing or receiving end of life care
3. Within NHS Forth Valley people who experience mental health problems and or learning disabilities are supported to live fulfilled lives without stigma
4. NHS Forth Valley service users are equal partners in planning, developing and monitoring their care through informed choice and personal responsibility
5. Within NHS Forth Valley there will be a reduction in the sexual health inequalities experienced by communities through fostering a culture of positive sexual health which encompasses age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, race/ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation
6. Within NHS Forth Valley transgender and gender variant people experience a care and work environment free from discrimination
7. NHS Forth Valley will submit to the Stonewall Scotland Workplace Equality Index in 2017 and improve their score year on year

The report also includes information on:

Progress made on our 2013 – 2017 equality outcomes, identify actions achieved during 2015-17.
How we continue to assess and review our policies and practices (EQIA)
How we will use information on members or board members gathered by the Scottish Ministers
Actions taken to gather and use employee information
Gender pay gap information
Statements on equal pay
The considerations taken regarding the award criteria and conditions in relation to public procurement
How we will continue to publish in a manner that is accessible.