Equality and diversity report 2023 – 2024

1. Introduction

We are delighted to present the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report (2023/24) for North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust.

We are extremely proud of the work that has been achieved this year as we continue towards becoming a truly inclusive employer. The Trust supports a diverse workforce who have different backgrounds, with differing perspectives and different ways of working.As the diversity of our workforce grows, we want everyone to know they work in a safe, supportive and inclusive environment where they can be themselves and deliver their best. This diversity is key to our success and helps us to provide the best possible care for our patients and the local population.

This report sets out some of the progress we have made on equality, diversity and inclusion as an organisation this year.

Health and workforce inequalities should have no place in our organisation and we have a critical role to play in supporting long term systemic change.

The report summarises our workforce Equality Monitoring Data for the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. We strive to be an organisation that listens, is empathetic and understands the needs of our people before acting.

We hope that you will find this report informative and engaging and feel a sense of how important this agenda is to us and to the group.

Equality, diversity and inclusion underpins who we are, and our ambition is for each and every one of our colleagues to feel a real sense of belonging and being valued by the organisation every day.

Rachael Metcalf and Dr Susy Cook
Group chief people officers

2. Strategic overview

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, alongside key partner organisations, provides health and care services to over half a million residents across our communities. We continue to be dedicated to collaboration in all that we deliver as we work to positively impact the health of our population, and radically reduce health inequalities in our communities.

In January 2023 our Trust established a group model with South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Whilst our vision that – ‘Providing the best possible health and care for everyone in our population’ remains unchanged, our collaboration will bring us more opportunity and advantage for both our patients and staff to deliver this.

Through the expertise, skills and knowledge of our diverse workforce, we continue to aim for ‘excellence as standard’.

Our biggest asset is our workforce. They are the drive behind our dedication to patient care, and the reason why we are committed and strive to create a culture of inclusion where staff feel like they belong and have the opportunities to flourish and develop.

We are dedicated to reducing disparities in equality gaps, which exist for diverse protected groups. It is therefore important to ensure our action plans have a broad emphasis on intersectionality.

Engagement

We have rolled out an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) calendar of events over the last 12 months. This includes training sessions covering various EDI topics for staff, to really inform our staff  about what it means to be inclusive. Our continued focus is to provide the development and support needed to enable this.

We continue to embed a restorative just and learning culture. This means that we will support our staff when things go wrong, we will look at ‘what’ went wrong rather than blame, and we will explore how we can learn from errors, and support staff to reflect and change. This does not mean we will ignore behaviours that fall short of our values and expectations, nor will we tolerate overt or deliberate discrimination or prejudice.

The Trust holds Disability Confident Leader status, which recognises our commitment to removing inequality and ensuring fairness and equity in relation to our recruitment and employment processes.

Inclusive leadership

The Trust understands that inclusive leaders recognise and value the unique perspectives of all staff and create opportunities for all to succeed.  This can foster a sense of belonging and engagement among team members and leads to increased creativity, innovation and collaboration.

Managing and advancing equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) starts with good governance.

The Group Executive Board and Directors Teams have oversight of the EDI agenda and the two directorates of People and Nursing and Patient Safety strategically manage the work.

There are numerous routes that colleagues can use to raise concerns about equality, diversity and inclusion, this includes the Trust’s Speaking Up Service, the annual staff survey and regular pulse surveys, line management channels, the staff networks and other colleagues including staff side representatives.

We continually promote an open culture and encourage our staff to collaborate with leaders to improve inclusion, quality and safety across all care groups and corporate areas.

The Trust’s EDI governance structure is shown below and is built on the principle of inclusive leadership and inclusion. The EDI Steering Group reports to the People Committee, and the Patient and Carer’s Experience Committee reports to Patient Safety and Quality Standards (PSQS) Committee, using a multi-professional approach with regular reports and updates from:

• Staff Diversity Networks
• People Projects and Quality Team
• Healthcare User Group
• Maternity Voices Group
• Accessibility Group
• Volunteer Services
• End of Life Steering Group
• Patient Experience Team
• Cancer Patient and Carer Group

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Champions/Network Chairs 2023/24

• Prof. Elizabeth Barnes – EDI non-executive director
• Michelle Taylor – Head of workforce planning, quality and projects
• Nicola Hogarth – People projects and quality partner
• Kris Bell – EDI engagement lead and ability group network lead
• Annemarie Stubbs – People, quality and projects manager
• Sushil Munakhya – Ethnic minority network lead
• Natasha McManus – Women’s network lead
• Nikki Stanley – Age (Older) network lead
• Seb Kazemi – Men’s network lead
• Matthew Harper – LGBTQ+ network lead

3. We are the NHS: People Plan

The NHS People Plan 2020/21 set out actions to support transformation across the whole NHS, building on the work of the Interim People Plan alongside the People Promise.

To achieve its ambitions, the NHS People Plan sets out specific actions within six areas:

• Responding to new challenges and opportunities
• Belonging in the NHS
• Growing for the future
• Looking after our people
• New ways of working and delivering care
• Supporting our people now and for the long term

The People Promise is a national programme launched in 2023 to raise the profile and importance of staff and the contribution that they make.

It sets out in the words of those who work in the NHS the things that matter most to them and what would most improve their working experience in key areas of the Trust such as health and wellbeing, learning and development, reward and recognition and a sense of belonging across the workforce.

This year we are delighted to succeed in our application and be recognised by NHS England as an exemplar organisation, securing funding to support with the delivery of the People Promise agenda and to improve our staff experience and retention.

When excellent staff experience is achieved, staff become inspired to be the best they can be at work which in turn delivers the best patient care.

4. Staff Networks

Our Staff Networks provide a supportive, welcoming, safe confidential space for our workforce, where members can come together with a shared purpose of improving lived experience within the Trust. We are proud of the work of our Staff Networks, and the support they provide to colleagues as we continue to work towards being truly inclusive

Over the last year our staff networks continue to evolve, increasing to six, now including a men’s staff network.

Our networks:

• Provide a safe space for discussion of issues
• Help to raise awareness of issues within the wider organisation
• Provide a source of support for individual staff who may be facing challenges at work
• Offer a collective voice for the workforce to communicate with management

Networks and their members benefit from working in partnership with other staff groups in the Trust. This enables our groups to achieve more when working together, particularly when promoting intersectionality and supporting staff who are part of more than one group.

Our network leads have regular access to senior managers when issues arise, ensuring that issues affecting our colleagues are resolved promptly. The Trust’s Freedom to Speak Up Guardian is also a member of the network groups and regularly attends meetings to promote the Speaking Up service and explore barriers to raising concerns.

5. Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED)

The Equality Act 2010 requires public authorities to have due regard to the need to:

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Act.
• Advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.
• Foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.

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.

Key steps to consider based on Brown’s principles (www.gov.uk):

• Understanding and awareness of the duties
• Inequalities taken into account before and whilst decision is being considered
• Sound evidence and information underpins decision making
• Duty is considered continuously throughout the decision-making process

*Protected groups as defined by the Equality Act 2010 – age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation.

In support of the effective delivery of the equality duties of the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duties (PSED), there are other mandatory requirements for the Trust as an NHS organisation. These include:

• NHS Standard Contract (SC13 Equity of Access, Equality and Non-Discrimination) compliance of which is regulated and monitored by the Care Quality Commission (CQC)
• Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES)
• Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES)
• Gender Pay Gap (GPG) reporting
• Equality Delivery System (EDS22)
• Accessible Information Standard (AIS)
• Sexual Orientation Monitoring Standard (SOM)

Our current objectives are:

• To engage with our patients, the local community and various stakeholders, in line with the requirements of EDS2, to ensure the effective provision of services.
• To enable our staff to work alongside patients and carers to determine realistic, reasonable adjustments to deliver safe, effective care to people with literacy problems, learning difficulties and dementia.
• To promote equality, diversity and inclusion across the Trust.
• To explore and reduce the discrimination experienced by our staff, as identified by the NHS annual staff survey, through the development of proactive measures and support mechanisms to be implemented Trust-wide.

6. Equality Delivery System

The Equality Delivery System (EDS) is the foundation of equality improvement within the NHS. It is an accountable improvement tool which supports NHS organisations (in active conversations with patients, public, staff and trade unions) to review and develop their services, workforces and leadership.

The purpose of the EDS is to generate regional and local conversations about what is working well and what is not working so well, to enable improvements to be made.

The EDS is specifically designed to encourage the collection of better evidence and insight across the range of people with protected characteristics as described in the Equality Act 2010, and so to help NHS organisations meet their obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).

This third version of the EDS was commissioned by NHS England & Improvement and it consists of three separate domains covering: patient services, workforce and leadership. It is intended to be a simplified, updated and easier to use version of EDS2.

There is a structured process which organisations must adhere to and this requires collaborative engagement with patients, service users and staff to agree scores for each outcome which then ultimately defines the organisation’s EDS rating.

We successfully implemented the newest version of EDS in 2022/23 and will continue to review and report on this on an annual basis.

The assessment ratings for all three domains are summarised in the table below. All ratings have been agreed in full consultation and discussion with our stakeholders.

Our score for 2023/24 was 15 confirming our overall rating as Developing. We have identified a number of areas that we are achieving successfully at the higher level and are confident that we will be able to meet many of the additional requirements in the coming year.

EDS domains and outcomes

Domain 1: Commissioned or provided services

• 1A: Patients (service users) have required levels of access to the service  – developing (1 point)
• 1B: Individual patients (service users’) health needs are met – achieving (2 points)
• 1C: When patients (service users) use the service, they are free from harm – achieving (2 points)
• 1D: Patients (service users) report positive experiences of the service – developing (1 point)

Domain 2: Workforce Health and Wellbeing

• 2A: When at work, staff are provided with support to manage obesity, diabetes, asthma, COPD and mental health conditions – developing (1 point)
• 2B: When at work, staff are free from abuse, harassment, bullying and physical violence from any source – achieving (2 points)
• 2C: Staff have access to independent support and advice when suffering from stress, abuse, harassment and physical violence from any source – achieving (2 points)
• 2D: Staff recommend the organisation as a place to work and receive treatment – developing (1 point)

Domain 3: Inclusive Leadership

• 3A: Board Members, system leaders (Band 9 and VSM) and those with line management responsibilities routinely demonstrate their understanding of, and commitment to, equality and health inequalities – developing (1 point)
• 3B: Board/Committee papers (including minutes) identify equality and health inequalities related impacts and risks and how they will be mitigated and managed – developing (1 point)
• 3C: Board members, system and senior leaders (Band 9 and VSM) ensure levers are in place to manage poor performance and monitor progress with staff and patients – developing (1 point)

7. Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES)

The NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) was introduced as part of the NHS Standard Contract in 2015 and seeks to tackle one particular aspect of equality – the consistently less favourable treatment of those who identify themselves as Black, Asian or from a Minority Ethnic background.

National research shows that those individuals who are from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic background are:

•  Less likely to be appointed for jobs once shortlisted

• Less likely to be selected for training and development programmes

• More likely to experience harassment, bullying or abuse more likely to be disciplined and dismissed

The WRES consists of nine metrics which consider the fairness of how BAME staff are treated. Trusts must report on the metrics annually and implement an action plan to address any disparities highlighted by the information, in an attempt to try and close any gaps between the experiences of BAME staff as compared to White staff.

The Trust was given a rating of Good for the 2023 WRES action plan.

Our rating for 2024 will be confirmed later this year.

A summary of the results for 2023/24 is shown in the tables below. The baseline data has been extracted and calculated to determine a response to each of the nine WRES indicators.

WRES indicator 1 – Percentage of BME staff 

WRES indicator 2 – Relative likelihood of white applicants being appointed from shortlisting across all posts compared to BME applicants

WRES indicator 3 – Relative likelihood of BME staff entering the formal disciplinary process compared to white staff

WRES indicator 4 – Relative likelihood of white staff accessing non-mandatory training and continuous professional development compared to BME staff

WRES indicator 5 – Percentage of staff experiencing harassment, bullying or abuse from patients, relatives or the public in the last 12 months 

WRES indicator 6 – Percentage of staff experiencing harassment, bullying or abuse from staff in the last 12 months

WRES indicator 7 – Percentage of staff believing that the Trust provides equal opportunities for career progression or promotion

WRES indicator 8 – Percentage of staff personally experiencing discrimination at work from a manager, team leader or other colleagues

WRES indicator 9 – BME Board membership

8. Workforce Disability Equality Standard

The NHS Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) is designed to improve workplace experience and career opportunities for Disabled people working, or seeking employment, in the NHS. The WDES follows the Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) as a tool and an enabler of change.

The WDES first came into force on 1 April 2019 as part of the NHS Standard Contract and consists of ten specific metrics which consider the fairness of how disabled staff feel they are treated by the organisation. Organisations are required to report on the metrics annually and the information

obtained is used to implement local action plans to address any disparities in the metrics and demonstrate progress against the indicators of disability equality. The Trust was given a rating of Good for the 2023 WDES action plan.

Our rating for 2024 will be confirmed later this year.

A summary of the results for 2023/24 is shown in the tables. The baseline data has been extracted and calculated to determine a response to each of the ten WDES indicators.

WDES indicator 1 – Percentage of staff with a disability or long term health condition

WDES indicator 2 – The relative likelihood of disabled staff being appointed from shortlisting compared to non-disabled staff

WDES indicator 3 – The relative likelihood of disabled staff entering the formal capability process compared to non-disabled staff

WDES indicator 4 – Percentage of staff experiencing harassment, bullying or abuse from patients, relatives or the public in the last 12 months  

WDES indicator 5 – Percentage of staff experiencing harassment, bullying or abuse from manager in the last 12 months 

WDES indicator 6 – Percentage of staff experiencing harassment, bullying or abuse from other colleagues in the last 12 months 

WDES indicator 7 – Percentage of staff saying that the last time they experienced harassment, bullying or abuse at work, they or a colleague reported it

WDES indicator 8 – Percentage of staff who believe that their organisation provides equal opportunities for career progression or promotion

WDES indicator 9 – Percentage of staff who have felt pressure from their manager to come to work, despite not feeling well enough to perform their duties

WDES indicator 10 – Percentage of staff satisfied with the extent to which their organisation values their work

WDES indicator 11 – Percentage of staff with a long lasting health condition or illness saying their employer has made adequate adjustment(s) to enable them to carry out their work

WDES indicator 12 – Staff engagement score (0-10)

WDES indicator 13 – Disabled/LTC Board membership

9. Gender Pay Gap Report

The Gender Pay Gap report is intended to show the difference in the average pay between all men and women in a workforce. Our published report for 2024 (snap shot date 31 March 2023) demonstrates the Trust’s compliance with statutory reporting requirements and analyses the figures in more detail to understand the reasons behind why the pay gap exists.

Most importantly, it highlights the good practice which exists within the organisation and sets out the actions we intend to take to reduce the gender pay gap for future years.

As a Trust we unequivocally support fair representation across all levels of the organisation, irrespective of gender. Our approach to pay is based on the principles of consistency, fairness and transparency, which supports the fair treatment and reward of all staff.

Our gender pay gap report as of 31 March 2023 (the snap shot date) shows the Trust has an average pay gap of 44.65%, and a median pay gap of 23.51%.

A further breakdown of results shows that the average pay gap is higher amongst the non-medical workforce in comparison to medical staffing. This is because the proportion of male senior managers employed by the Trust is higher than the number of female senior managers.

The increase in the mean (average) pay gap is attributed due to the majority of our male medical Consultants within the upper quartile (Q4). This is the highest paid group of medical staff which significantly impacts on the mean gender pay gap.

When calculating the hourly rate of pay for the overall mean pay gap, this is worked out based on employee’s total annual salary (including basic pay, any allowances and any bonus payments) received during the reporting year.

As Clinical Excellence Awards (CEAs) are included as part of the average hourly rate of pay the Trusts overall mean gap is strongly influenced by both the average pay and gender make-up of medical staff. The imbalance in these numbers has a significant impact on the overall Gender Pay Gap for this year.

The median pay gap is also higher amongst the non-medical workforce compared to medical staff.

The average gender bonus rate of pay is reported at 19.25% for 2023, which is a decrease of 41.39% from the previous year.  This has significantly reduced due to the impact of the previous years ‘thank you’ cash bonus payment which was paid to all employees.

The median difference is zero because the midway point for both male and female is the same and is due to the CEA’s being split equally.

Since agreement of the national pay award for Medical Consultants, CEA’s will cease from 2024. This will therefore impact on future gender pay reporting as we will no longer have to report and review CEA’s as part of the bonus pay gap.

We will continue to promote the activities and good practice that we already undertake, including: undertaking fair and transparent recruitment processes, including values based recruitment; delivery of unconscious bias training and promotion of various leadership and development opportunities which exist across the Trust.

Pay Quartiles by Gender

The above data shows the male to female split of our workforce for each quartile.

The lower quartile represents the lowest salaries in the Trust and the upper quartile represents the highest salaries. The Trust employs more women than men in every quartile, however female representation is disproportionately lower in the upper quartile which is the highest paid roles in the organisation.

The information indicates that women occupy 72.64% of the highest paid jobs within the Trust and 88.13% of the lowest paid jobs. This is the fundamental reason behind the Trust’s overall gender pay gap.

10. Staff survey

The national staff survey is one of the largest workforce surveys in the world and is carried out every year to improve staff experience across the NHS.

The survey has been redesigned in recent years to align with the NHS Our People Promise. By using the staff survey as the principal way to measure progress, this enables teams and departments to see their progress and take action to improve.

All employees were invited to participate in the survey and the personal characteristics of the respondents are reported as similar to the overall profile of our workforce.

In our staff survey for 2023-24, we achieved a response rate of 50%, where 2,444 of our colleagues took the time to tell us about their experiences of working for the Trust. The results showed that for 10/10 themes, the Trust scored higher than the regional average.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Responses

Questions within the staff survey have been aligned to the NHS People Promise to track progress against the ambition to make the NHS the workplace where we all want to be by 2025.

“We are compassionate and inclusive” is assessed by examining four specific areas relating to culture, leadership, equality/diversity and inclusion. The

Trust scored higher than the national average in all four areas – a positive development which reflects the Trust’s commitment to the People Promise.

Compassionate Culture

89% of colleagues feel that their role makes a difference to patients and service users, and 79.3% of colleagues believe that care of patients and service users is the Trust’s top priority. 76.3% of colleagues reported that the Trust acts on concerns raised by patients and service users.

65.6% of staff would recommend the Trust as a place to work and 65.6% would be happy with the standard of care provided to a friend or relative.

Compassionate Leadership

71.1% of colleagues stated that their immediate manager works with them to come to an understanding of problems, with 72.1% of colleagues reporting that their immediate manager is interested in listening to them when describing the challenges they face.

72.3% of colleagues believe that their immediate managers cares about their concerns and 68.3% believe that their immediate manager takes effective action to help them with any problems they face.

Diversity and Equality

60.8% of our colleagues believe the Trust acts fairly with regard to career progression/promotion. 4.5% of colleagues reported that they have personally experienced discrimination from patients and service users (a reduction of 0.65% from 2022) and 6.6% of colleagues have reported that they have experienced discrimination from a manager/team leader or other colleagues (an increase of 1.19% from 2022).

73.4% of colleagues think that the Trust respects individual differences (an increase of 0.34% since 2022) and is reported higher than the national average (70.33%). Our work in relation to the delivery of people practices training for all managers and supervisors includes the principles of Just Culture which continues to a positive impact in this area.

Inclusion

72.2% of colleagues reported that they feel valued by their team and 68.9% feel a strong attachment to their team.

72.4% of colleagues stated that the people they work with are understanding and kind to one another and 73.3% stated that the people they work with are polite and treat each other with respect.

Staff support

Responses to the staff survey are anonymous therefore it is not possible for us to directly address concerns raised through the survey on an individual basis. However, we continue to ensure that all staff have access to a variety of routes where they are able to raise concerns in confidence, and this includes details of the support systems that are available for staff to access.

There are both formal and informal routes to assist staff who may be experiencing any form of discrimination, bullying or harassment. In addition to our People policies for raising a request for resolution or raising concerns of bullying and harassment, there are also additional routes for staff to seek support.

This includes direct access to and support from the Trust’s Freedom to Speak Up Guardian and Champions; referral to our internal mediation service, and; self-referral to occupational health support which includes access to counselling services.

We are keen to ensure that staff feel empowered to raise concerns early and that, as a responsive employer, we clearly communicate what we expect from our staff, including our values and behaviours and ensuring these are instilled within all staff at all times.

11. Equality, diversity and inclusion in practice

Equality and diversity is about inclusion, respect and removing barriers, whether this be in relation to the health care services we provide, or the employment of our staff.

There are numerous ways in which this is illustrated throughout the organisation, through specific initiatives as well as in our everyday practices. The following section of the report highlights some examples of good practice and the case studies which reflect this.

Staff network event

We were delighted to host our first combined Staff Network engagement event on 29 June 2023, where colleagues from across the Trust were invited to attend a range of sessions aimed at raising awareness of equality and diversity and promoting inclusion.

As part of the special day, the Trust were joined by expert speakers in their field to talk about topics on equality, diversity and inclusion, disability awareness, LGBTQ+ and Show Racism the Red Card.

Our Staff Network Leads took a lead on hosting the day encouraging staff to book to attend different focus groups facilitated by both internal and external guest speakers. Staff were also encouraged to visit the various stalls to obtain further information.

Transgender Awareness Month

To mark the beginning of Tran’s awareness week there was a lot of activity at the Trust to raise awareness, develop ally ship and celebrate the diversity of our workforce.

Our LGBTQ+ Staff Network ran numerous trans ally sessions open to our staff, volunteers and students. The spirituality centre displayed some of challenges faced by the trans community and invited staff to leave a message of support and our LGBTQ+ staff network collated handwritten messages to create a digital book which was shared across the organisation for all staff to read.

Trust receives Inclusive Excellence Committed Award

There has been a lot of work around equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) at our Trust and we’re   thrilled to also announce that the Trust has achieved an Inclusive Excellence Committed Award.

The accolade recognises our commitment to equality, diversity, inclusion and equity. To achieve this status, the Trust is required to demonstrate and provide evidence of our commitment to these practices.

Equality, diversity and inclusion(EDI) podcasts

The Trust’s EDI Engagement lead has worked alongside our Staff Network leads to launch regular EDI themed podcasts to raise awareness and showcase key elements of EDI, celebrating achievements, highlight challenges and promote involvement opportunities across the organisation.

Young people start career journey in NHS with new placement initiative

Young people from Teesside have started their career journey at our Trust – as part of a new partnership to develop the next generation of NHS staff.

Students are set to start placements in nursing and allied healthcare professional areas as they carry out their T Levels. These are two-year level 3 qualifications for people aged 16 to 19 year, set up by the government to help young people to develop the knowledge, attitude and practical skills to progress into skilled employment, an apprenticeship or further study.

Trust event empowers women in leadership

The Trust hosted its first ever Women in Leadership conference – the first of our events aimed at inspiring and nurturing future female leaders in the organisation.

Borne out of conversations with our staff, the event focused on energising and developing women in our organisation with hopes of inspiring them  to progress into leadership roles.

We’re excited to take our staff along on this journey with us reflecting our commitment to ensure all staff have access to opportunities.

Diwali menu lights up the Tees Restaurant

Our Tees Restaurant has partnered with Ananda’s Gourmet to create a special Indian menu to celebrate the start of Diwali.

Senior radiographer Ananda Logishetty supplied the spices and recipes to our chefs who carefully followed Ananda’s meal kit instructions to serve up the perfect Indian dishes.

Best-selling author discusses her dementia journey with staff

We welcomed in best-selling author Wendy Mitchell as an inspirational guest speaker to staff.

Wendy worked in the NHS for over 20 years and was diagnosed with young onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2014, aged just 58. As a Sunday Times best-selling author of three books, she has also appeared on national and international television, including BBC Breakfast, ITV Good Morning and ABC News Australia.

Wendy spoke with staff about what its like ‘living as well as you can’ with dementia and how her life has changed. She offered a first person perspective on how we can support our patients in hospital and in the community.

Celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride

Our staff joined a panel of NHS employees from around the country (including Trust LGBTQ+ staff network chair Matt Harper) for an open and honest discussion on everything LGBTQ+ in celebration of Pride Month!

The ‘Ask Me Anything’ webinar provided a safe and judgement-free space for all the questions people might otherwise think are silly or inappropriate to ask.

Matt and the LGBTQ+ Staff Network also hosted a stand at the back of Tees Restaurant throughout June to chat, answer questions and offer support around anything LGBTQ+.

Ramadan

On Sunday 10 March we celebrated the holy month of Ramadan with colleagues.

The holy month of Ramadan, occurs     on the ninth month of the lunar-based Islamic calendar, during this time all Muslims are requested to abstain from food, drink, smoking and sexual activity between dawn and to dusk for 30 days.

Fasting seeks to develop in one a sustained consciousness of God (Taqwa). By freeing one from preoccupation with physiological needs the heart and mind have greater freedom to reflect and meditate upon deeper spiritual matters, such as a person’s relationship with the creator of creation.

This year the Ethnic Minority and Multi-faith staff network were on hand to offer additional support that staff or managers had, including a guide to Ramadan to aid colleagues throughout the celebrations.

International Women’s Day 2024

On International Women’s Day, we recognised inspiring women that we’re proud to call colleagues at our Trust.

This year, we asked staff to put forward colleagues for our inaugural “Wonder Woman of the Year” awards. The accolade honours remarkable individuals from our teams who exemplify dedication and support, and are ambassadors for our values and behaviours amongst patients, staff and service users.

12. Looking ahead to 2024/25

We continue to promote, develop and embed EDI within the organisation both in line with legislative requirements as well as through the hard work and dedication of staff working in collaboration across the organisation.

This commitment to staff and patients  is highlighted by our various achievements which are detailed within this report.

We have many plans for the year ahead to include taking forward work to implement the actions in the Trust-wide EDI action plan.

We will continue to embed and integrate the Equality Delivery System (EDS) in both service provision to our patient and carers and in the values and behaviours of our workforce.

The EDS assessment tool and subsequent action plans will be used to monitor and evaluate practices throughout 2024/25.

The ongoing work will help shape our culture of inclusion, these practices will help support and embed, making sustainable change, for our staff, patients and their families. We will continue to listen and respect differences to ensure our vision of “providing excellent care for the communities that we serve”.

We are on a journey and will continue to use our engagement platforms to ensure all staff have a voice and are very much part of our continuing work across EDI at the same time providing assurance of our zero tolerance approach to discrimination.

13. Contacts for Further Information

If you would like any further information about Equality, Diversity and Inclusion within North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, please contact our Workforce Equality and Diversity lead:

Feedback

We welcome feedback on our annual reports from all stakeholders so that we can continue to meet our commitment to improve service delivery. We would welcome any feedback and comments on this document which should be directed to:

14. Workforce Equality Factsheets

As of 31 March 2024, there 5,152 members of staff employed by the Trust.

This section outlines the profile of the workforce of the Trust in relation to each protected characteristic, for the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.

Of the total staff employed by the Trust, 2,701 employees (52%) work on a full time basis and 2,451 employees (48%) work part time.

Section 1 – Gender

The Trust employs 4,020 female members of staff and 680 male members of staff.

Section 2 – Ethnicity

The Trust employs 4,366 White employees and 737 BAME employees. A further 49 employees have chosen not to declare their ethnicity.

% Ethnic breakdown of…

Section 3 – Age

Of the 5,152 individuals employed by the Trust, the majority of staff are aged 35 to 44 closely followed by age 45-54.

% Age breakdown of…

Section 4 – disability

Our data indicates that the majority of our employees (77%) have declared that they do not have a disability, as compared to 5% of employees who have declared that they do have a disability:

• No – 77%
• Yes – 5%
• Not declared – 18%

The information we hold relating to staff and disability continues to improve and there has been a reduction in the number of staff who have not declared their disability status from 29% in 2021/22 to 19% in 2022/23 to 18% in 2023/24.

Section 5 – Sexual Orientation

83% of our employees have declared their sexual orientation, whereas 17% have chosen not to declare their status. The number of staff choosing not to declare their status has reduced by 2% since 2022/23.

Of those employees who have chosen to declare their status, 80% of our employees have declared their sexuality as heterosexual, with a further 3% employees who have declared their status as gay, lesbian or bisexual.

• Heterosexual – 79%
• Gay, lesbian or bisexual – 2%
• Undisclosed – 19%

Section 6 – Marital Status

The marital status of our workforce profile indicates that 54% of our employees are married, with a further 1% who have indicated that they are in a civil partnership. 34% of our employees are recorded as single.

• Married – 54%
• Single – 34%
• Divorced/legally separated – 8%
• Civil partnership – 1%
• Widowed – 1%
• Unknown – 2%

Section 7 – Religion and Belief

48% of our employees have recorded their religion as Christian, whereas 24% of staff have chosen not to declare their religion and 14% of staff have declared that they are Atheist.

Section 8 – Pregnancy and Maternity

5% of our staff (256 employees) have taken maternity, adoption, paternity or shared parental/adoption leave in the last year.

Section 9 – Gender Reassignment

At present we are unable to report on this equality strand however as our reporting processes develop we hope to be able to capture this in the future. Despite this, any member of staff currently undergoing gender reassignment is supported throughout their transition by a wealth of supporting resources and individuals available across the organisation.

PDF document

Click the link below to view or download our equality and diversity report:

Equality and diversity report 2023 – 2024 (10MB pdf)

If you use assistive technology such as a screen reader and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email us at [email protected]