Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust is committed to meeting the Equality Act 2010 duties and the development of a human rights based approach across the services it provides and to the support it provides to the staff it employs.
Following a period of consultation with all our Staff Networks, EDI leads and other internal and external stakeholders including third sector organisations and Healthwatch, the following equality objectives were identified:
- We will provide our staff with the knowledge and resources to enable them to create a culture of belonging where equality, respect & civility, and our restorative just learning are the cornerstones of our daily work
-
We will continue to build on our learning to ensure our staff are intentionally anti-racist in their practice with each other and the services that we deliver
- We will support our staff to speak up, listen up and follow up on all concerns raised. Reducing discrimination and disrespectful behaviour towards all protected characteristics among our staff and service users
- We will be accountable for monitoring our performance on equality and human rights
- We will provide accessible ways to listen to our patients, carers, and service users, particularly underrepresented communities and we will act on their knowledge and needs
-
We will continue to build a workforce that is diverse, inclusive and representative of the communities we serve and support them to reach their potential.
Setting the objectives
The objectives are set by using the EDS 2 Goals:
- Better health outcomes
- Improved patient access and experience
- A representative and supported workforce
- Inclusive Leadership.
Consideration has been given to the previous year’s objectives and outcomes and this is then used in the Equality and Human Rights Action plan along with other quality contracts such as the Quality Account. Feedback from Staff Networks is also used in determining the Equality Objectives.
The aim of the Equality Objectives
By using the Equality data collected from the previous Equality Objectives the Trust aims to identify how by use of further Equality Objectives and Equality and Human Rights Action Plan experiences by service users and staff are improved in relation to protected characteristics.
Improving service user experience, improving Board analysis of equality information, inclusion of Equality and human rights into Trust strategy, service developments and equality analysis has been agreed to ensure that equality and human rights are at the heart of the Trust internal processes to ensure they continue to be fundamental to its work. They have been set within a time frame to enable clear goals which can be both evaluated and developed alongside the EDS2 process.