NHS Employers

1
NHS Employers

• Equal Opportunities for NHS Staff
• Michael ParkerChair of NHS Employers Equality
  Diversity Core Reference group
• Chair of Kings College Hospital, London

2
Agenda

• What Are We Trying to Achieve?
• The Drivers
• Do we Need Positive Action?
• Working Definition
• Categorising Positive Action
• Success Factors
• Q A

3
Vision for the NHS

• An environment where all staff feel valued and
  enjoy a fair and equitable quality of working
  life, and where different backgrounds,
  perspectives, knowledge and experiences are
  welcomed and the benefits that this diversity can
  bring are actively sought and embraced.
• A service which continuously seeks to improve
  the quality of healthcare provided to an
  increasing diversity of patients and clients,
  through nurturing, supporting and developing its
  staff.

4
The Drivers

• The Compliance Case driven by legislation
  and policy
• The Moral / Social Case its the right thing to
  do
• The Business Case where the benefits
  outweigh the cost and
  effort

5
Do We Need Positive Action?

• Women earn on average 18 less than their male
  counterparts1
• The unemployment rate among some black and
  minority ethnic (BME) groups is 3 times greater
  than for white people2
• Only 3 out of 400 Directors of Nursing are
  black3
• Despite having special health needs, BME groups
  generally under-use the NHS4
• Disabled people are nearly 3 times as likely as
  non- disabled people to be
  economically inactive5

6
Working Definition of Positive Action

• Positive Action is a range of lawful actions
  which seek to address an imbalance in employment
  opportunities among targeted groups which have
• previously experienced disadvantage, or
• which have been subject to discriminatory
• policies and procedures, or
• which are under-represented in the
• workforce

7
Categories of Positive Action

• Work Experience Placements
• Job Preparation Training
• Personal Development Support
• Changes to Policy, Practice or Working
  Environment
• Assistance Towards Qualifications
• Staff Training and Awareness

8
Categories of Positive Action

• Community Awareness Programmes
• Apprenticeship Schemes
• Mentoring Schemes
• Targeted Recruitment
• Targeted Management Development/Leadership
• Programmes

9
Targeted Groups

• Well targeted
• Asian women
• Blind and deaf students
• BME staff
• Disabled staff
• Female staff
• Male staff
• Homeless people
• Mental health service users
• Refugees
• School leavers
• Substance abusers

• Less well targeted
• Particular religious groups
• Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual staff
• Older people

10
Positive Action Success Factors
11

• Q A

12

• THANK YOU

13
References
1Department of Trace Industry, Women Equality
Unit web site http//www.womenandequalityunit.
gov.uk/pay/pay.htm 26.8 ethnic minority people
are unemployed, compared with only 3.4 white
people. Black Caribbean men are the group most
likely to be unemployed, with 9.8 of the
population not in work but seeking work Ethnic
Minority Employment Task Force
www.emetaskforce.gov.uk/keys.asp 3Knight, J
(2003). Beating the Odds, Nursing Standard, May
28/Vol17/no 37/2003 4ibid 5Employers Forum on
Disability web site www.efd.org.uk/www/guests/i
nfo/disability.htm