NHS Lincolnshire East Clinical
Commissioning Group (CCG)
Equality Strategy 2016 – 2018
Outlining our strategic direction in Equality, Inclusion and Human Rights (EIHR)
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Foreword:
NHS Lincolnshire East Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has committed to fully meeting
the diverse needs of our local population and workforce, ensuring that none are placed at a
disadvantage over others. The CCG is committed to take into account current UK legislative
requirements, embed them into procedures and deliver best practice. The CCG has from
inception in April 2013 followed the NHS Equality Delivery System (now EDS 2).
This strategy sets out the CCG’s intentions around Equality, Inclusion and Human Rights
(EIHR) for the next three years. This strategy details the CCGs intentions designed to
ensure that EIHR remains at the heart of what we do. By doing so, the CCG ensures the
best possible outcomes for the local community; CCG staff and especially those seldom
heard groups who experience Health Inequalities. The CCG has an obligation to understand
and take action to reduce Health Inequalities for the population it serves as part of the
requirements of the Health and Social Care Act 2012.
The CCG is committed to identifying and understanding the healthcare experiences of the
population it serves, narrowing the gaps in the health of the population, raising the quality of
care and maximising the value and effectiveness of resources spent by or on behalf of the
CCG. At the heart of this is the recognition that every member of staff and every
organisation contracted to provide a service on the CCG’s behalf have a shared role in
delivering this aspiration. The Social Value Act legislation links with this and requires the
CCG to review and use its purchasing power to improve economic and environmental
wellbeing within the community it serves.
The CCG is committed to understanding the needs, views and experiences of the population
it serves. In short the CCG commits to engage effectively, regularly and inclusively with the
wider population as part of its decision process. This includes, but is not limited to, the
protected characteristics of their age, disability, sex (gender), gender reassignment, sexual
orientation, marriage and civil partnership, race, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity
status.
The CCG commits to ensure that when making decisions, appropriate and proportionate
consideration is given to gender identity, socio-economic status, immigration status and the
FREDA principles of the Human Rights Act 1998
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1. Background
1.1 The 30 practices that form Lincolnshire East Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) are
working together to improve the quality and delivery of health services for patients.
We are made up of three localities - Boston
Area, East Lindsey, Skegness and Coast, all with very different challenges.
These include areas of socio-economic deprivation, people growing older and living longer
high numbers of obese people and people living with long term conditions like diabetes and
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
It's our job to understand the health needs of local people to invest in services that will give
you, our patients, better healthcare.
Because local GPs and health professionals are responsible for planning and buying the
health services now we're closer to patients than ever before.
We are committed to ensuring that NHS patients, carers and family members, as well as
current and potential staff will not be discriminated against on the grounds of social
circumstances (including relationship status) or background, gender and gender identity,
race, age, disability, pregnancy / maternity status, sexual orientation or religion. We commit
to work with staff, providers, partners, patients, carers and communities to improve the
health of our population and reduce health inequalities for the people of Lincolnshire East.
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This strategy outlines our strategic direction in meeting the needs of the population we
serve, improving outcomes for that population and ensuring compliance with the Public
Sector Equality Duty and other relevant legislation.
1.2 Our values
Our values, as determined by our member practices, define our culture and shape our
decision making.
We will use our values to drive our ambitions for Lincolnshire East as we continue to move
forwards.
The values that lie at the heart of our work are:
Quality - safety, effectiveness and patient experience will guide our decisions
Clinical leadership - we believe clinicians should be our key leaders and primary
influence
Patient focus - we will seek the views of patients and take them into account in what
we do
Integration and partnership - we will use these as keys to success
Fairness - we believe investment should reflect need
Equality - we will strive for equality of patient experience, opportunity and outcome
Good value - we will use NHS resources to best effect
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2. Legislative Framework
2.1 Equality Act 2010
The Equality Act received Royal Assent in 2010 with the majority of the provisions coming
into force on 1st October 2010. Further provisions came into force as follows:
• Positive action; recruitment and promotion – 5 April 2011
• Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) – 5 April 2011
• Age discrimination protections in the provision – 1 October 2012 (of services and public
functions)
In addition to the Act, specific duties were identified and came into force on 10 September
2011 as The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011. These specific duties
require public bodies to publish relevant proportionate information showing compliance with
the PSED, and to set Equality Objectives. The Equality Act unifies and extends the previous
100 pieces equality legislation and regulations. The Act identifies nine characteristics as
protected by the Act:
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Age - including specific ages and age groups
Disability - including cancer, HIV, multiple sclerosis, and physical or mental
impairment where the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on
the ability to carry out day-to-day activities
Race - including colour, nationality and ethnic or national origins
Religion or belief - including a lack of religion or belief, and where belief includes
any religious or philosophical belief
Sex
Sexual orientation - meaning a person’s sexual orientation towards persons of the
same sex, persons of the opposite sex and persons of either sex
Gender re-assignment - where people are proposing to undergo, are undergoing or
have undergone a process (or part of a process) for the purpose of reassigning the
person’s sex by changing physiological or other attributes of sex
Pregnancy and maternity
Marriage and civil partnership
2.2 Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED)
Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 imposes a duty on public authorities in the exercise of
their functions to have due regard to the need to:
1. Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any other
conduct that is prohibited by or under the Act.
2. Advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected
characteristic and persons who do not share it.
3. Foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic
and persons who do not share it.
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We have committed that as part of the decision process we will ensure that robust and
proportionate Equality Analysis and Due Regard is taken around any decision we take. In
addition we will ensure that this can be effectively demonstrated.
I.
Eliminating discrimination:
a. The Act prohibits direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and
victimisation of people with relevant protected characteristics
II.
Advancing equality of opportunity involves:
a. Removing or minimising disadvantage experienced by people due to their
personal characteristics
b. Meeting the needs of people with protected characteristics
c. Encouraging people with protected characteristics to participate in public life
or in other activities where their participation is disproportionately low.
III.
Fostering good relations involves:
a. Tackling prejudice, with relevant information and reducing stigma, and
b. Promoting understanding between people who share a protected
characteristic and others who do not.
Having due regard entails considering the above three aims of the PSED in all the decision
making as in:
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How we act as an employer
Developing, reviewing and evaluating policies
Designing, delivering and reviewing services
Procuring and commissioning
Providing equitable access to services
The legislation acknowledges that in some circumstances compliance with the PSED may
involve treating some persons more favourably than others, but not where this would be
prohibited by other provisions of the Act.
2.3 Specific Duties for Public Sector Bodies
Public authorities for the purpose of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) are listed in
Schedule 19 of the Act. NHS organisations are listed as public authorities. In addition,
bodies that exercise public functions are subject to the PSED in the exercise of those
functions (see section 149(2) of the Act). The provision of commissioned NHS services is a
‘public function’.
The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011 require all listed public bodies to:
1. Publish information to demonstrate its compliance with the duty imposed by section
149(1) of the Act. This must be done no later than 31st January 2012 and at
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subsequent intervals not greater than one year beginning with the date of the last
publication.
2. Prepare and publish one or more objectives, by 6th April 2012 and subsequently at
intervals not greater than four years, it thinks it should achieve to do any of the things
mentioned in section 149 of the Act.
The publication of information needs to include the following:
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Its employees (for authorities with more than 150 staff)
People affected by its policies and practices (for example, service users)
The information must be published in a manner that is accessible to the public
Procurement and commissioning (anyone who exercises public functions, must also,
in the exercise of their functions have due regard to this duty)
2.4 NHS Equality Delivery System (EDS2)
“EDS will support CCGs to provide fair, accessible and appropriate services to meet the
health needs of all patients while helping to ensure equity in quality and reduced health
inequalities.” (Dr Amrik Gill, GP)
The Equality Delivery System (EDS2) framework was designed by the NHS to support NHS
organisations to meet their duties under the Equality Act.
The EDS2 has four goals, supported by 18 outcomes. The CCG will use the EDS2 as a
toolkit to meet the requirements under the Equality Act and we believe this will impact
positively across all the activities of the CCG.
We have published our EDS2 evidence on its website annually in line with the January
deadline. In addition we have published our Equality objectives in line with the October
deadline and these objectives, combined with updates on progress can be found on the
relevant page via the link below.
http://lincolnshireeastccg.nhs.uk/index.php/about-us/equality-and-diversity
Compliance with the EDS2 model is key to our strategy since the following goals focus
towards our priorities around patients and staff.
The four EDS2 objectives are:
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Better health outcomes.
Improved patient access and experience.
A representative and supported workforce.
Inclusive leadership.
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For each EDS2 outcome, there are four grades to choose from:
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Excelling (all protected groups) – Purple
Achieving (for most (6-8) protected groups) – Green
Developing (for some (3-5 protected groups) – Amber
Undeveloped (no evidence at all, few or no protected groups) – Red
It is our intention to attain a minimum of ‘achieving’ across all four goals within the timeframe
of this strategy.
3. Inclusion and equality
3.1 Responding to the requirements as outlined above offers many challenges and
opportunities for us. Responding to them individually will ensure compliance and
unnecessary duplication. Taking account of our mission, vision and priorities, the need to be
transparent, accessible and engaging with patients and communities and making sure that
we take account of the diverse health needs of their growing complex and diverse
communities require an inclusion and equality strategy to ensure direction. This strategy thus
seeks to embrace everything that we aspire to achieve in the coming years.
At the heart of this strategy is a new approach to integrate inclusion and equality issues into
everything that we do. By becoming an inclusive organisation, one that listens, and responds
to the people (patients, staff, partners and stakeholders) it serves, by meeting their diverse
needs and addresses the local health inequalities successfully, we will be an efficient,
effective and productive organisation.
The inclusive approach will not only deliver on legal obligations but also provide a direct
synergy with the work on quality and addressing health inequalities. This can be achieved by
focussing on improving the organisations’ performance whilst reducing inequitable health
gaps between characteristic groups and communities. These are usually associated with
poor levels of ill-health, take-up of treatment, and the outcomes from healthcare given that
some people from protected groups are at times disproportionately affected and as a result
experience difficulties in accessing, using and working in the NHS.
When analysing the outcomes for services and employment, we will also extend the analysis
and engagement beyond the protected groups to other groups and communities who face
stigma and challenges in accessing, using or working in the NHS. For example, carers,
people who are homeless, isolated people and temporary residents.
By developing this integrated model of addressing inequalities and providing an equitable
and fair service to all the residents in the area we believe we will be more successful in
meeting our various obligations and local needs.
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3.2 Equality Objectives
Objectives 2015-2017
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Objective 1: Develop relationships with key minority groups such as older adults and
migrant workers to get key messages to the CCG on their needs and expectations.
Objective 2: Carry out performance management with provider organisations to
ensure that patient monitoring is taking place and being used to inform their equality
plans.
Objective 3: Carry out project work to support people with neurological conditions
and their families.
Objective 4: Develop forums/networks to support disabled staff and promote mental
wellbeing amongst staff.
4. Information sharing and engagement
A cornerstone of the NHS reforms and delivering on the PSED will be how we communicate,
share information and engage with:
 Patients
 Carers
 Staff
 People from the protected characteristic groups
 Voluntary sector, and
 Others
This effectively will deliver a two-way flow of information. By developing an inclusive
approach with sustained engagement with local interests including protected and
disadvantaged groups will assist in collating evidence and using the evidence to influence
our performance and decision making.
By promoting collaboration within the local health economy and partners such as local
authorities to share best practice, undertake joint engagement activities, encourage joinedup thinking, sharing qualitative and quantitative evidence in addressing local inequalities.
The CCG has developed an engagement strategy which outlines the CCG’s current and
future plans to engage with and understand the views of the population of East Lincolnshire.
5. Review and Renewal
The CCG’s Equality Lead and Governing Body will continue to regularly review and update
this strategy and publish updates accordingly.
For further information and to discuss any related concerns please contact: Sarah Southall,
Emma Danby or Karen Duncombe
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