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Listening and capturing what staff and patients think about equality issues lies at the heart of our equality agenda and our approach to improving their experience. We regularly carry out surveys and encourage their feedback.
In addition to this, we have the following committees we consult about the equality work:
The Workforce and Diversity Steering Group |
This provides high level consultation, as well as strategic oversight. |
The Diversity Leads’ Forum |
This is a group of staff, all of whom are committed to champion equality in their directorates and act as “critical friends” in this work. |
The Patient Experience Group |
This is our main forum for hearing the "patient voice" and its membership covers all of the protected characteristics, by personal identity or interest. |
The Disability Equality Action Group |
This is led by one of our lead nurses and includes service users with a disability and members of their representative groups. |
The Carers Group |
This reaches out to carers and ensures we meet the needs of those who are most valuable in supporting our patients. |
Joint Staff Forum |
This meets quarterly, chaired by the Human Resources Director. It is a forum for discussion between all of the Trust unions and professional associations and Human Resources. |
Joint Staff Consultative And Negotiating Committee |
This meets monthly, chaired by a Senior HR Manager. The Committee brings together staff side and management to discuss the detail of HR policy development, including the impact on equality and diversity. |
We also carried out a specific consultation exercise, focusing on our Equality Data Report and our Equality Delivery System Assessment.
We stay abreast of what is happening on equality, both locally and nationally and engage with a wide range of local interests. You can see more on our engagement work here:
For further details of the work of the committees, or to find out how you can get involved please contact Anthony.Williams1@nhs.net or call 01392 406942.
Introduction