Item:9.4

Report to: / CCG Board
Date of Meeting: / 29 January 2016
Subject: / Equality & Diversity EDS2 Tool Assessment & Draft Objectives 2016/20
Presented by: / Mike Napier, Associate Director of Corporate Affairs
Author: / Mike Napier, Associate Director of Corporate Affairs,
Amanda Heenan, E&D Consultant
STATUS OF THE REPORT:
/
To approve
/ To endorse
To ratify
/ To discuss
To consider
To note / For information
PURPOSE OF REPORT:
To present for consideration the CCG self-assessment against the EDS2 criteria and the draft updated CCG Equality & Diversity Objectives.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
i)
ii) / To comment, as appropriate, on the EDS2 self-assessment undertaken by the CCG, and
To approve the launch of a two month public consultation process for the updated draft CCG Equality & Diversity Objectives.
REPORT EXEMPT FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE /
No /
Yes
If yes, grounds for exemption
(FOIA or DPA section reference)
CCG STRATEGIC
OBJECTIVE (See guidance notes below) / ASSURANCEFRAMEWORK
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE
(See guidance notes below)
The report links to the CCG’s statutory duties in relation to the Equality Act 2010. / Strategic Objective 1: In 2020 we will work together better to enable the people of Hull to improve their own health, resilience, wellbeing and to achieve their aspirations for the future.
IMPLICATIONS: (summary of key implications, including risks, associated with the paper),
Finance / Financial implications will occur if the legal requirements of the Equality Act (2010) and its Duty to be applied by the Public Sector (2011) are not upheld.
HR / HR considerations are important in relation to E&D; the interaction between the population and CCG team is essential. There are E&D implications for the way the CCG leadership and culture, as well as the integration of equality and employment legislation in case law.
Quality / Lack of engagement with marginalised and hard to reach groups will affect the quality of provision that is both commissioned and delivered to the population of Hull. The same is true for those employed by Hull CCG if their diversity and equality of opportunities are limited, thus reducing commitment and quality of provision.
Safety / Equality Impact Analysis (EqIAs) which correctly assess the impact on those members of the population (public, patients and staff) with protected characteristics will continue to ensure the safety of commissioned services. Equality and Diversity are key components of the requirements of Health, Safety and Wellbeing.
ENGAGEMENT: (Explain what engagement has taken place e.g. Partners, patients and the public
prior to presenting the paper and the outcome of this)
The report demonstrates on-going engagement with increasingly diverse local interest groups. Continued and sustained engagement is a key requirement of the equality programme of work, and particularly in implementing the Equality Delivery System. This sustained engagement ensures that we are improving fair and equitable access to health services.Equally, further engagement work will focus on CCG staff so that they become more familiar with equality and diversity considerations as part of their daily duties.
LEGAL ISSUES: (Summarisekey legal issues/legislationrelevant to the report)
This report demonstrates how we are meeting our duties under the Equality Act 2010 (including our public sector equality duties) and the Human Rights Act 1998.
EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY ISSUES: (summary of impact, if any, of CCG’s duty to promote equality and diversity based on Equality Impact Analysis (EIA). All reports relating to new services, changes to existing services or CCG strategies / policies must have a valid EIAand will not be received by the Committee if this is not appended to the report)
Tick relevant box
An Equality Impact Analysis/Assessment is not required for this report. / X
An Equality Impact Analysis/Assessment has been completed and approved by the lead Director for Equality and Diversity. As a result of performing the analysis/assessment there are no actions arising from the analysis/assessment.
An Equality Impact Analysis/Assessment has been completed and there are actions arising from the analysis/assessment and these are included in section xx in the enclosed report.
THE NHS CONSTITUTION: (How the report supports the NHS Constitution)
All sections of the NHS constitution are covered and referenced within this document and the adherence to the Equality Act 2010 as there is inter-reliance between the two for both to be fully effective.

Equality & Diversity EDS2 Tool Assessment & Draft Objectives 2016/20

1.INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this report is to launch the consultation of Hull CCG’s equality objectives for 2016 – 2020. The report will explain how the Equality Delivery System (EDS) was used as a method to gather evidence and feedback and how this has informed our draft equality objectives. It will also outline the next steps required to ensure the objectives form part of the CCG’s strategy and forward plan, and how they will be integrated into the day to day business of the organisation.

2.BACKGROUND

The EDS is a mandatory NHS England standard that requires NHS organisations to show how they are improving outcomes for people who share protected characteristics as defined by the Equality Act 2010.

The EDS has four performance objectives / goals:

  1. Better Health Outcomes for all;
  2. Improved patient access & experience;
  3. Empowered, engaged & wells supported staff; and,
  4. Inclusive leadership at all levels.

Hull CCG implemented the first version of the EDS in 2012, which informed its Equality & Diversity Objectives and Action Plan.This has led to a number of improvements, including stronger and more collaborative engagement with more diverse groups, strengthening of equality impact assessment processes and a focus on access and inclusion in health services.

The CCG has shown strong leadership on equalities, with the Board embracing their equality duties and fully supporting the implementation of the equality delivery system.

Hull CCG has taken a comprehensive approach to gathering evidence for the EDS, reviewing how we commission services against EDS outcomes. An evidence-gathering workshop was help with senior commissioning managers to collect and discuss the available evidence. This included previous engagement that related to access and experience (e.g. through the People’s Panel).

In addition, with support from the Communications and Engagement function, extensive engagement was done with a number of voluntary and community groups, whose members represented the protected characteristics. This included a series of focus groups with local community groups, which provided rich qualitative evidence. In addition an on-line questionnaire was widely distributed via the voluntary and community sector.

An assessment workshop for Goals 1 & 2 was held in November 2015 with Hull Building Health Partnerships members as well as other equality stakeholders. Hull Building Health Partnerships provides a broadly representative forum, which the CCG felt was best placed to support the grading process. Significant preparation work was done to brief members of the Partnership to ensure there was a good understanding of the EDS and associated evidence gathered by the CCG.

A detailed report is available outlining this journey and the findings from focus groups, surveys and the assessment workshop (see Hull CCG Evidence and Provisional Grading Report, December 2015).

3.INFORMATION

The following recommendations were made based on the findings from all of the engagement work that had been undertaken:

  • Further engagement is needed regarding access to mental health services, particularly for young people and asylum seekers / refugees;
  • More should be done to ensure that people with cognitive impairments are able to provide patient feedback and get information in an accessible way. The Accessible Information Standard is a good lever for the CCG to ensure that services are meeting the communication needs of patients;
  • Audit quality of interpretation service, particularly with respect to lack of knowledge about medical terms;
  • There should be a more joined up and planned approach to consultation and engagement so that a wider audience can be reached and community groups have a chance to digest consultation materials and involve their members. An annual plan of public sector consultation and engagement would be helpful, although the CCG sometimes has to respond to short national deadlines, which means that this is not always possible. It is really important to feed back after engagement or consultation to make people aware of the outcomes and how their views have been incorporated;
  • Practice staff need to develop their equality and diversity skills to gain greater understanding of the needs of different protected groups;
  • Managers should spend time ‘walking in the shoes’ of service users to get a greater understanding of the barriers faced by people;
  • Involve people in the development of public facing documents so that these are as accessible as possible, suggest having an accessible information reference group;
  • Consider the wording of contracts for services commissioned from the voluntary sector, relating to equality and diversity, which are currently very complex; and
  • Develop the capacity of voluntary sector providers to comply with equality and diversity requirements

In addition, evidence was gathered for Goals 3 & 4, relating to the workforce and inclusive leadership, with the support of the CCG’s HR Business Partner. EDS outcomes for Goal 3 have been included in the staff survey and there will be additional staff engagement during February and March 2016.

Draft Equality Objectives 2016 - 2020

The follow objectives are proposed based on EDS findings. They include corporate objectives, to ensure that equality and diversity is routinely picked up and owned in the corporate functions of the organisation, as well as specific objectives, to ensure that this is translated beyond process into meaningful outcomes.

We will be consulting on these objectives during February and March 2015.

Corporate objectives:

  1. To ensure and provide evidence that equality is consciously considered in all commissioning activities and ownership of this is part of everyone’s day to day job;
  1. To ensure that all our communication activity is accessible, taking into account a wide range of communications needs, and ensure that our providers do the same;
  1. Be a strong partner and actively seek to collaborate with partners to meet our public sector duties;
  1. To maintain a well-supported, empowered motivated and engaged workforce, which is representative of the population we serve; and
  1. To continue to demonstrate strong leadership on equality so momentum is not lost during organisational change.

Specific objectives:

  1. Develop an Equality Impact Analysis (EIA) reference group,including community representation, to advise the CCG on all aspects of the EIA process including a review of existing arrangements;
  1. Develop an annual engagement calendar which is widely circulated to community representative groups;
  1. Develop an accessible communications reference group to ensure that all public facing communication meets a range of needs and is jargon free;
  1. Review the interpretation service to ensure that the quality offered is fit for purpose;
  1. Provide staff training about the specific needs of protected characteristic groups and how to undertake the revised EIA process once the review is complete;
  1. Continue to build on close working equality relationships developed with the voluntary sector; and
  1. Hold an annual equality and diversity board development session

Once the objectives are approved, an annual action plan will be developed to identify the relevant leads and key milestones to ensure there is shared ownership of delivering these objectives.

Staff engagement will also include highlighting practical ways that staff can play their part in meeting these objectives.

Acknowledgements

This has been a significant piece of work conducted throughout the year, and relied on the co-operation and contribution across the CCG, particularly the Communications and Engagement function and the ongoing support of the CCG’s lay member for equality, Jason Stamp. Particular thanks to Hull Building Health Partnerships, the LGBT Network, William Booth House, Humber All Nations Alliance (HANA), Birth Understood for Mums and Partners (BUMPS), Danny’s Dream, Gypsy Travellers, and Age UK.

5.RECOMMENDATIONS

Members are asked:

i)To comment, as appropriate, on the EDS2 self-assessment undertaken by the CCG, and

ii)To approve the launch of a two month public consultation process for the updated draft CCG Equality & Diversity Objectives