Public Sector Equality Duty Report 2015/16

Transcription

1 Public Sector Equality Duty Report 2015/16 Board of Directors Sponsor: Director of Workforce and Organisational Development

2 Executive Summary This document forms part of West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust s (WMAS) commitment to create a positive culture of respect for all individuals, including staff, patients, their families and carers as well as community partners and other health professionals. The intention as required by the Public Sector Equality Duty [PSED], is to identify, remove or minimise discriminatory practice in the nine named protected characteristics of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, religion or belief, and marriage and civil partnership. The report will also provide the Trust with on-going assessment to measure its performance in meeting the five strategic Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) objectives, as described in section 5 of the report. The Trust has identified specific areas of where data collection would have a positive impact on patient experience and outcomes, mainly monitoring patient experience. The contents of this report will enable the Trust to set strategic direction for improving the outcomes for patients and staff around the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion agenda. WMAS Equality & Diversity Position Statement West Midlands Ambulance Service is committed to promote Equality, Diversity & Human Rights for all staff, patients their families and carers. As an employer we will ensure that our staff are treated with dignity, respect and are free from discrimination, bullying and harassment. The Trust advocates that all staff should have the equality of opportunity to flourish and develop to their full potential. The Trust adopts a Positive Action approach to recruitment and selection in encouraging a diverse range of applicants to apply for roles so as to be reflective of the communities we serve. The Trust recognises the diversity of the population we care for and realises that some communities can experience health inequalities which may have an adverse impact on their quality of health and life. As a service provider the Trust is determined to provide a high quality of care where the patient is at the core of everything we do. The Trust will provide a service that is accessible to all, taking into consideration individual needs and cultural differences and will not discriminate on the basis of Protected Characteristics. This document is available in other languages and formats on request. For more information please call

3 Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY... 1 WMAS EQUALITY & DIVERSITY POSITION STATEMENT EQUALITY ACT The Legal Framework The General Equality Duty Protected Characteristics THE THREE AIMS OF THE GENERAL EQUALITY DUTY Eliminate unlawful discrimination Advance equality of opportunity Foster good relations between people THE SPECIFIC EQUALITY DUTY Our Services Emergency and Urgent (E&U) Patient Transport Services (PTS) Patient Experience Staff Groups and Pay Scale Equality Trust Governors Specific Equality Duty Workforce Data Equality Objectives THE NHS EQUALITY DELIVERY SYSTEM (EDS2) EDS2 Framework Grading Objectives Staff Grading Event WORKFORCE RACE EQUALITY STANDARD Closing Gaps OUR COMMITMENT TO EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY NEXT STEPS Recommendations and actions Recommendations and actions for 2016/17 to be agreed PLANS FOR APPENDIX 1... I 2

4 1. Equality Act The Legal Framework The Equality Act 2010 introduced a Public Sector Equality Duty Section 149[1] of the Act. The Public Sector Equality Duty covers two duties: 1. The General Equality Duty [GED] 2. The Specific Equality Duty [SED] 1.2 The General Equality Duty General Equality Duty requires public Sector organisations to have Due Regard to: 1. Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act; 2. Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not; and 3. Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. This can be achieved by taking into consideration the following; Removing or minimising disadvantages experienced by people due to their protected characteristics; Taking steps to meet the needs of people from protected groups where these are different from the needs of other people; Encouraging people from protected groups to participate in public life or in other activities where their participation is disproportionately low. The steps involved in meeting the needs of disabled persons that are different from the needs of persons who are not disabled include, in particular, steps to take account of disabled persons disabilities. Having due regard to the need to foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it involves having due regard, in particular, to the need too Tackle prejudice and promote understanding. 3

5 Due Regard means thinking about the aims of the PSED in the decision making process. This means that consideration must be given to equality issues such as: How the Trust acts as employers How the Trust develops, evaluates and review policy How the Trust designs, delivers and evaluates services How the Trust commissions and procures from others The Specific Equality Duties The NHS Equality Delivery System was formulated to help it meet the Public Sector Equality Duty. 1.3 Protected Characteristics The Equality Duty replaces the three previous public sector equality duties - for race, disability and gender. The Equality Duty now covers the following protected characteristics: age disability gender reassignment pregnancy and maternity race religion or belief sex sexual orientation marriage and civil partnership 2. The Three aims of the General Equality Duty 2.1 Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act To support this aim the Trust: 1. Continues to improve the way we address unlawful discrimination to make sure that our staff, patients, service users and carers receive appropriate protection and that redress is open and for all. All data collected through EDS2 and actions taken are in the public domain via the Trust external website and through reports submitted to NHS England. 4

6 2. Has invested in CCTV on all ambulances to help prevent our staff being harassed, victimised and attacked by members of the public. The Trust adopts a zero tolerance approach when it s detrimental to the safety of our staff or our patients. 3. Has put policies into place to tackle harassment, bullying and discrimination and process to deal with such incidents. Senior Managers attended a training session to be briefed on Bullying Behaviours and we have developed an on line awareness package for our staff and managers. This training package enables all staff to understand what bullying and harassment behaviours are and the detrimental effect these have on the victim. 4. Implemented a Dignity at Work policy which defines the expected conduct of conduct expected from our staff towards each other and the people we serve. 5. Produced a Code of Conduct booklet which was issued to every member of staff with the expected behaviours and high standards we expect of our staff with each other, patients their families and other health professionals. 6. Developed a new staff handbook which highlights bullying, harassment and discrimination behaviours which will be disseminated to all staff. 7. All induction training incorporates Equality & Diversity awareness and educates new staff in the expected standards and behaviours required. This session also provides knowledge and understanding in relation to the diversity of our patients and their individual needs. 2.2 Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not To support this aim the Trust: 1. When a member of the public makes a 999 call and there is a difficulty due to language, the Call Assessor has access to Language Line Interpretation Service. Language Line and Translation will assist in ensuring all relevant details are taken and appropriate help is provided to the caller. The range of languages requested through our Emergency & Urgent Services includes Romanian, Polish, Punjabi, Arabic, Urdu, Slovak, Russian, Czech, Farsi and Somali. There are over 65 different languages spoken in the West Midlands and the use of language line provides timely intervention in their time of need. 2. Is a member of the Positive about Disability Two Ticks scheme which guarantees an interview to any applicant who is disabled and who meets the essential criteria for the post. We are reassessed annually to ensure we continue to meet the criteria to qualify. We also provide staff with reasonable adjustments where appropriate 5

7 and access to Occupational Health Services which ensure our staff are supported if they have a disability. 3. Developed a set of Easy Read leaflets for patients with learning disabilities. It can be very frightening when an ambulance turns up with lights flashing and making a noise when you don t understand why. The leaflets instruct the user how to dial for an ambulance what to expect when it arrives. We often take patients with learning disabilities for hospital appointments so a leaflet has been developed to explain what will happen and what they need to take with them for their appointment. 4. Call takers have been provided with an on line awareness package with reference to taking calls from someone with learning disabilities or someone who is autistic. 5. Managers and staff have a joint responsibility to ensure that no employee or job applicant is discriminated against, or harassed in relation to any of the protected characteristics as defined by the Equality Act Managers and staff also have a joint responsibility in the course of their work to protect service users from being discriminated against in relation to a protected characteristics as defined by the Equality Act We regularly review our recruitment and selection processes and documentation to ensure compliance with legislation, codes of practice and NHS requirements. Our recruitment and selection processes are contained within the Recruitment and Selection Policy. The Policy aims to ensure that applicants are selected on the grounds of their ability and suitability for the vacancies and to ensure consistency and fairness in the selection process, providing equality of opportunity for all applicants. All external vacancies are advertised in our staff Weekly Briefing newsletter and on the NHS Jobs website and Job Centres. We also now advertise all of our apprentice vacancies on the National Apprenticeship website. All applicants complete the same NHS jobs application form to ensure a consistent and fair process. The Trust regularly reviews all recruitment activity by collating and understanding data from candidate s applications through shortlisting and appointment. 6. A Positive Action approach is used in the recruitment and selection of staff. This approach ensures that our employment and training opportunities are promoted as widely as possible across diverse communities who have perhaps not traditionally seen the ambulance sector as an exciting career option. 7. We offer an Access Course under our positive action focus, directed at BME applicants who have applied for our Paramedic Science programme as our operational workforce specifically is under-represented. This highlights the key characteristics of the role and encourages people who are classified as BME to be supported through the preparation for the selection process. This Access Course is open to both external people and internal staff who want to progress. 2.3 Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not 6

8 To support this aim the Trust: 1. Is continually striving to improve liaison between different groups of staff and the community it serves. Some of the ways we have done this over the past year include, Equality and Diversity training is a mandatory activity delivered at induction to new staff and via E-Learning to existing staff every year. 2 The staff survey results for 2015 identified an area for improvement was with Equality and Diversity. Whilst 74% of the respondents said the organisation acts fairly with regards to career progression regardless of ethnic background, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability or age, 12% of staff said they are discriminated against by patients or members of the public. This is a 3% increase compared to the 2014 survey. The highest increase in discrimination was seen for Sexual Orientation (15%) followed by Gender (14%) and Ethnic Background (13%), as compared to the previous survey s results. 3 Prioritised the promotion of Paramedic Science training opportunities in conjunction with the four universities within the West Midlands region that support our workforce planning process. The Trust recognised that in previous year s university Paramedic Science programmes appeared to be unattractive to potential students. Following discussions with representatives from our partner universities in the region, a focus on communication and publicity was enacted which included: Attendance at school student events Positive imagery was used in updating university course literature Raised awareness by recruitment panels at the university Support publicity given by health Deans 4. We recognise that people have a right to be actively involved in decisions that affect their lives and wellbeing. Involving people encourages and empowers them as individuals and as communities. Engagement is the process of getting the public involved in the decisions about them in a sustained way. This includes planning, developing and managing services as well as activities that aim to improve health or reduce health inequalities. The independent regulator, Monitor, published a document in August 2013 entitled Your statutory duties: a reference guide for NHS Foundation Trust Governors. The guide was first published by Monitor in October The updated version reflects the new roles and responsibilities of governors as set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2012.The guide states that governors will need to engage regularly with the NHS Foundation Trust s members and the public in order to represent their interests effectively. The key principles of Governor Engagement to represent the interests of members and the public are: Governors should seek the views of members and the public on material issues or changes being discussed by the Trust. Governors should feedback to members and the public information about the Trust, its vision, performance and material strategic proposals made by the Board of Directors. 7

9 Governors should try to make sure when they are communicating with directors of the Trust that they represent the interests of members and the public rather than just their own personal views. 5. The Trust has attended many community events over the last year in particular we have provided Heartstart courses for community groups. This has proved very effect in educating the community free of charge and a great method of community engagement. Courses have been delivered to the following groups: The elderly, Heart support groups, Disability Groups Carer Support groups Young people 3. The Specific Equality Duty The Public Sector Equality Duty is supported by Specific Duties, set out in regulations which came into force in September The Specific Equality Duty require West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, as a public body to: Publish sufficient information to show that it has considered the three aims of the general duty when making decisions and the equality data that underpins those decisions. Publish information related to persons who share protected characteristics who are employees, or others affected, such as service users. Publish Equality Objectives informed by the evidence and data published at least every four years To publish the information in a manner that is accessible to the public. 3.1 Our Services To meet the specific duties of the Equality Act 2010, the Trust collects patient diversity information to enable us to identify changing patterns of usage of our services. For example, over-usage may result from poor local care services or from a lack of understanding of how ambulance services are used. Identifying such patterns can help us to appropriately target local public health information and education to try to improve the understanding of ambulance service uses. 3.2 Emergency and Urgent (E&U) Emergency & Urgent calls are those that are received via the 999 service. Initially, the calls are triaged to ensure the most appropriate response is provided and in a timely manner. 8

10 Additionally E&U answers and assesses the calls routed to a staffed by an experienced paramedic. Where necessary, patients will be taken by ambulance to an A&E Department or another NHS facility such as a Walk in Centre for further assessment and treatment. We classify our service activity under three response types: 1. Hear and Treat This refers to incidents where patients needs can be dealt with by phone either through the paramedic triage process or by referral to an alternative pathway or health care provider under the direction of our experienced paramedics working on a Clinical Support Desk. 2. See and Treat - This refers to those incidents whereby the Control Room despatches a paramedic who can respond to patient needs on scene without the need to transport them anywhere else for treatment. 3. See and Convey - This refers to those incidents where a paramedic undertakes the initial assessment and immediate care, but where further treatment or diagnostics are necessary so the patient will need to be conveyed to hospital or other health care facility for treatment. The Trust collects data for all incident activities and reports on the proportion of activities for the three treatment types by Age and Gender. 3.3 Patient Transport Services (PTS) A substantial element of the organisations activity deals with the transfer of patients to hospital appointments, transfers between care sites, routine admissions and discharges and transport for continuing treatments such as renal dialysis. PTS has its own dedicated control rooms to deal with the 800,000 patient journeys it undertakes annually. 3.4 Patient Experience The Trust collects Gender, Age and Ethnicity data on patient experience through the Patient Advice Liaison Service (PALS) contacts and Complaints or Compliments received and the data is presented by Service Type i.e. Emergency and Urgent (E&U), Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), Patient Transport Service (PTS) and others. 3.5 Staff Groups and Pay Scale Equality The Equality Act 2010 provides the legislation to ensure women and men have the right to equal pay for equal work. The Trust works under the terms and conditions of the NHS Agenda for change. Whilst we ve seen an increase from last year in the percentage of female staff working at bands 3-6, the highest increase was seen in Band 4 group. Further action and improvement is required to recruit more women to bands 5 and above. See Appendix 1 for a detailed breakdown of the data. 9

11 3.6 Trust Governors The Trust continues to monitor the characteristics of its public membership and take action where necessary to ensure it is representative of the community it serves. The collection of data regarding religion ceased in February 2015 but collection of data regarding registered disabilities was added to the Trust Membership Form, it is anticipated that this data can be used to engage with all communities more fully and effectively shape our services to the benefit of patients, particularly those patients with disabilities. Community engagement has encompassed many of the diverse groups and communities within the West Midlands region. An overview of these activities is available to view on the Trust s external website 3.7 Specific Equality Duty Workforce Data Our staff data is available to view (Appendix 1). Observations taken from the analysis of our staff data as at March 2016 are: Our workforce is made up of 5.12 % Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) employees % of staff describe themselves as White % of staff chose not to state their ethnic origin % of our workforce is female compared to % male. 5.19% of staff describe themselves as disabled. 3.65% members of staff are recorded as being Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender (LGBT). Data for Gender Reassignment is not currently collected by the Trust % of staff described their religious belief as Christian, 15% as Atheist, 10.85% record another religious belief and 14.77% have chosen not to disclose their belief. 3.8 Equality Objectives The current Equality Objectives remain in place [ ] until the completion of the EDS2 grading events. This will enable our staff and invited community representatives to be involved in the formulation of the new objectives which will be presented to the Board to be agreed and for further development in September The NHS Equality Delivery System (EDS2) 4.1 EDS2 Framework The Trust is fully committed to the EDS2 framework since its inception in The EDS2 is a grading tool designed to assist organisations to mainstream Equality and Diversity into their Policies, Service Delivery and Practices. The EDS is also used to set out how the Trust complies with both the General and Specific Duties of the PSED. The EDS builds upon a framework of 18 outcomes set across four 10

12 goals covering service provision and employment practices. The aim behind the EDS is that organisations grade their performance against the outcomes, based on the number of protected groups for which they are providing a good level of service. The EDS2 Summary report will be published on the Trust s external website from October Grading Objectives The Trust each year is graded internally and externally. A range of community groups are invited to participate in the grading event. The key lead for that objective will present the progress the Trust has achieved over the year. The participants can ask any questions they wish and are placed in small groups to have overall discussions on the grading score. The four key objectives for EDS2 are as follows; Better health outcomes for all Improved patient access and experience Empowered, engaged and included staff, Inclusive leadership at all levels 4.3 Staff Grading Event The Trust undertakes the same process with our staff. Staff are from different locations, different grades and job roles. Once both sets of scores have been collated the result is published in the public domain. This methodology also highlights areas that need to be worked on and is the basis for an action plan. 5. Workforce Race Equality Standard The NHS Equality & Diversity Council (EDC) announced on 31st July 2014 that it had agreed action to ensure employees from Black Minority Ethnicity (BME) backgrounds have equal access to career opportunities and receive fair treatment in the workplace. The EDC pledged its commitment to implement two measures to improve equality across the NHS, commencing April The two areas are as follows: Workforce Race Equality Standard Equality Delivery System 2 (EDS2) 5.1 Closing Gaps The Workforce Race Equality Standard is a tool to identify gaps between BME & White staff experiences in the workplace this is measured through a set of Metrics. In closing the gaps we will achieve: Tangible progress in tackling discrimination Promoting a positive culture Valuing all staff for their contribution to the NHS We aim to provide an environment in the NHS whereby all staff are valued and supported across all its diverse workforce. The result will aim to show high quality patient care and improved health outcomes for all. These elements are mandatory and embedded within the NHS contract and subject to regulation. The aim of the WRES has been to improve workplace experiences and employment opportunities for BME people in the NHS. This approach also applies to BME people who want to work in the NHS. The Trust is working to address workplace disadvantages highlighted by the WRES through taking Positive Action. 11

13 The Equality and Diversity Council reinforced the WRES as a priority to enable the development of plans to tackle race inequalities. The best means to achieve effective actions and improvements is by: BME representation at Senior Management and Board level Provide better working environments for the BME workforce. The Trust therefore measures data against the criteria contained in the WRES through a number of metric elements. Four of the metrics are specifically on workforce data and four of the metrics are based on data derived from the national NHS Staff Survey indicators. The latter also highlights any differences between the experience and treatment of White staff and BME staff in the NHS, with a view to closing the gaps highlighted by these metrics. The final metric requires the Trust to ensure our Board is broadly representative of the communities we serve. The Trust is mandated by the NHS to produce a set of nine metrics and an action plan and publish them in three locations; 1. Public domain 2. Name and contact details of co-ordinating commissioner this report has been sent to. 3. A copy sent to NHS England WRES for collation. Our Action Plan has been developed based on the information obtained from assessing the Trust position against each of these factors. This Plan is monitored frequently and updated reports provided to Trust Committees and through to the Board of Directors. 6. Our Commitment to Equality and Diversity The vision Our aim is to become an exemplar organisation, in delivering and communicating respect and dignity and fairness for all, through our Strategic Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Objectives. Strategic Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Objectives 1. Improve data collection and analysis of patients and Foundation Trust membership across the nine protected characteristics to enable effective monitoring and identification of patterns and trends. 2. Build the communities trust and confidence in WMAS through effective communication and engagement. 3. Build an inclusive environment for all staff where dignity and respect is valued. 4. Increase the representation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) and disabled staff across all staff groups and pay scales within the Trust. 12

14 5. Create a culture which enables all staff to flourish and deliver high quality patient care The Trust is committed to continuing our plans that build on making real improvements which can be sustained over time. We continue to focus on the things that matter the most for our patients, communities and staff. A measure of success for the Trust will be where we are able to relate to our diverse society, encouraging diversity in recruitment and valuing the diversity we have among our own staff. These are key to our success and effectiveness. We aim to be a fair and inclusive organisation, respecting what each person brings to our business and recognising the value that they bring. 13

15 7. Next Steps 7.1 Recommendations and actions The following recommendations and actions were originally agreed by the Board of Directors to cover the period , each of these are monitored regularly and RAG rated to enable the reporting of progress against each area. Recommendations and action Lead Director By When The EDI steering group to undertake an analysis to identify barriers to women progressing beyond Band 6. The report has highlighted the majority of the women are in pay bands 3-6. (Page 7 of the report). With the Introduction of the Workforce Race Equality Standard in April 2015, and its contractual commitments to local Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG s), The EDI steering group to review barriers in recruiting BME staff across the organisation. The EDI steering group have recommended a BME mentor programme alongside a BME Leadership programme is in place by April Director of Workforce and Organisational Development Director of Workforce and Organisational Development Director of Workforce and Organisational Development This action will be progressed further into 16/17 action plan. A Task and Finish group to be led by ACM agreed October Initial programme implemented as a pilot in NHS 111. Now ready for roll out across the wider organisation during 2016/17 Increase engagement with young people ranging from the age groups, not only to increase our Foundation Trust membership but also to highlight the opportunities of careers within the Ambulance Service. A mandatory training session put in place for all PTS control staff covering the importance of Diversity Monitoring information Director of Corporate Services Commercial Services Director Over 274 members were recruited over the last two periods All PTS control staff have now received the training 14

16 7.2 Recommendations and actions for 2016/17 to be agreed Recommendations and action going forward for 2015/16: The EDI steering group to review data and actions for increasing the representation of disabled staff, from applications to appointments The EDI steering group to review turnover data of BME staff across the organisation and to develop actions that support BME staff retention levels. PALS patient survey data shows a lack of feedback from people who categorise themselves as Black, Asian, or disability and sexual orientation. An analysis and action plan to respond to this data will be submitted to the EDI steering group. Lead Director of Workforce and Organisational Development Director of Workforce and Organisational Development Head of Patient Experience By When December 2016 December 2016 December Plans for The Trust continues to focus on improvements to address deficiencies in our equality and diversity aspirations to meet both our legal responsibilities and our desire to utilise the full value of creating a diverse workforce for delivering high quality care to our patients. As the Trust progresses over the next twelve months the recommendations and action plan included in this Annual Report will evolve to take account of new information and developing aspirations for improvement. Commission the EDS2 Events for staff and our community representatives to grade the deliverables of the Trust. Involve staff and community representatives in the formulation of our Equality & Diversity objectives for the next four years. Formulate an Equality & Diversity strategy for the Trust Continue work on the Workforce Race Equality Standard as additional guidance is issued from NHS England. A new WRES action plan is under development and will involve consultation with staff and communities prior to consideration and agreement by the Board. : 15

17 Appendix 1 i

18 ii Public Sector Equality Duty and Equality Act 2010 Report 2015/16

19 iii Public Sector Equality Duty and Equality Act 2010 Report 2015/16