NHS Bath and North East Somerset Commitment to Equality
NHS B&NES is committed to equality of opportunity for everyone and believes that the diversity of the local community is a major strength that contributes to the wellbeing of our area.
The organisation recognises that some people may experience discrimination and less favourable treatment because of: age, disability, financial or economic status, gender, civil partnership or marital status, HIV status, homelessness or lack of a fixed address, political view or trade union activity, race, colour, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation, pregnancy / maternity or unrelated or spent criminal convictions.
In line with the Equality Act 2010 our policies clearly set out our aim not to discriminate against anyone who uses our services. To help embed equality in NHS B&NES strategic and policy decision making processes, the organisation regularly conducts equality impact assessments. These demonstrate how policies may / may not impact on particular groups within society and what the organisation can do to mitigate these effects.
Single equality scheme
NHS B&NES in partnership with Bath & North East Somerset Council has a single equality scheme and action plan which covers six key areas (race, gender, disability, age, religion and belief and sexual orientation). The organsiation wants to embed equality into all its working practices.
Meeting the public sector equality duty
The public sector equality duty is a specific duty on public bodies including NHS B&NES. It requires the organsiation to publish equality information to demonstrate compliance with the general duty.
This document is the start of NHS BaNES demonstrating the work that is currently being undertaken. This work still needs further development and detail to show what we are currently doing to comply with the general duty, the gaps that we have identified and how we will try to address these.