Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Equality and diversity is central to the work of the CCG to ensure equality of access to and treatment by the services that we commission on behalf of the population.

As a CCG 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 equality and diversity is central to the CCG's values, processes and behaviours. We will outline this in our Equality and Diversity Strategy, and will ensure that the CCG as a public body will meet its duty to eliminate discrimination and promote equality of opportunity.  This duty applies to staff, service users, patients, carers and members of the general public that the CCG comes 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 the CCG'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 the CCG will self-assess itself against the Equality Objectives and publish the assessment the website. The objectives will be reviewed and updated every three years.

Click here to view the annual equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) 2021-22 report for the CCG before the transition to an Integrated Care Board (ICB). Over the last year we have built on the progress made by the predecessor CCGs.

The CCG’s commitment to equality and diversity 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 health inequalities, promote patient involvement and involve and consult with the public. 

We use the NHS Equality Delivery System 2 (EDS2) to help us to meet the 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

We believe that in order to embed equality and diversity in the CCG, we need to start with good education across the organisation.  We provide access to training for all new starters at the CCG.

All employees at the CCG are required to undertake full Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) when designing, changing or decommissioning services within the Frimley Integrated Care System.

An Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) 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 or negative 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 EIA's as a way of ensuring 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.

We undertake annual analysis against the indicators of the NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard.