Equality and diversity in the CCG
Equality and Diversity is central to the work of Herts Valleys CCG, as it is to the NHS. We want to ensure there is equality of access and treatment for all people to the services that we commission, both as a matter of fairness and as an essential part of our drive to reduce health inequalities and increase the health and wellbeing of all our population.
We are committed to embedding equality and diversity values and into our policies, procedures, employment practice and the commissioning processes that secure health and social care services.
We are committed to embedding equality and diversity into our work and through our contracts and partnerships with providers we are supporting them to tackle inequities and barriers to services for patients.
We are always looking to improve our work on equality and diversity, as a commissioner and as an employer. Email your thoughts or comments to communications.hvccg@nhs.net
Brief overview of equality and diversity in the west Hertfordshire population
The 2011 Census provided the following results:
- 14.6% (59,141) of the west Hertfordshire population are from BME communities.
- 14.1% (66,054) of the population of west Hertfordshire self-reported a long-term health problem or disability that affected their daily activities.
- 269,773 people self-reported that they were living in a couple, of which 219,928 were married, 46,835 were in a cohabitating opposite-sex couple and 3,010 (1.1%) were in a registered same-sex civil partnership or cohabitating.
- 1.5% of the west Hertfordshire population identified themselves as lesbian, gay or bisexual
- the five largest religious groups in west Hertfordshire were Christian (57%, 321,200), followed by No religion (24.4%, 137,500), Muslim (3.8%, 21,500), Jewish (3.4%, 19,300) and finally Hindu (2.7%, 15,200).
- the proportion of people that provide unpaid care in west Hertfordshire is 9.8%.
The ratio between males and females in west Hertfordshire is, generally, evenly split throughout the age groups.
West Hertfordshire has a similar population structure to Hertfordshire’s registered population. The biggest difference is a slightly lower proportion of 20-24 year olds.
Equality Act 2010 and Public Sector Equality Duty
The Equality Act 2010 set out new responsibilities for public bodies, including Herts Valleys CCG, and the Act underpins all our work on Equality and Diversity.
Read a summary of the way the Act affects the NHS and you as a patient
Find out more about the Public Sector Equality Duty, which provides the framework for our equality and diversity work.
Equality Delivery System
The Equality Delivery System (EDS2) helps NHS organisations to understand and fulfill their equality and diversity duties and to deliver better outcomes for patients and communities and better working environments for staff.
In 2019 we completed our first EDS2 assessment:
Using Data
We use demographic data to better target our engagement and communication activities.
As an example, to complement the national communications strategies for winter pressures, our approach for Winter 2019/20 has been to review our A&E attendance data to identify any particular demographics who are using A&E without further intervention a high proportion of the time. The data indicates that this group is mainly parents with young children. Therefore, we targeted our local communication activity at this group, based on local insight to encourage a reduction in unnecessary attendances at A&E and an increase in use of community/primary care services and support services including GP, out-of-hours and NHS 111.
Key communication headlines include:
- Promotion of alternative non-emergency pathways including Urgent Treatment Centres, GP Surgeries, Pharmacies, NHS111 with targeted distribution of communication materials via organisations such as schools, the Family Centre Service, colleges, libraries, care homes, GP surgeries, local media and third party organisations who represent the interests of families.
- Active promotion of extended GP access appointments, especially appointments ring-fenced for use by children, and access through NHS 111
- Concise and clear patient information for parents with young children, issued by health visitors at health checks, to actively engage those parents on how to book GP extended access and access urgent care through NHS 111.
- Prevention and ‘stay well’ including take-up of flu vaccinations, staying warm, keeping active and looking out for vulnerable neighbours
Herts Valleys CCG Equality and Impact Assessment
Please find attached here the May 2020 edition of the CCG equality impact assessment and health inequality impact assessment (EqIA) template.
Workforce Race Equality Standard
The Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) has been developed by the NHS as a tool to measure improvements in the workforce with respect to Black & Minority Ethnic (BME) staff. Implementing the Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) is a requirement for NHS commissioners and NHS healthcare providers. The challenge to ensure BME staff are treated fairly and their talents valued and developed is one that all NHS organisations need to meet.