We are committed to providing first class responsive services and ensuring that all patients, carers, volunteers, and employees receive fair and equal treatment throughout their care and employment and are treated with respect and dignity regardless of differences.

We will deliver high quality, patient centred accessible services and as an employer provide a positive,  inclusive and fair workplace culture free from discrimination. Our staff will ensure they are consciously inclusive in their day to day practice and interactions with our diverse patients and teams, removing inequality in the provision of both health services and employment practices.

Our annual Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) plan outlines how we will do this, you can read the full details here in our EDI Plan 2022 – 2026.

• You can read our latest monitoring report here (2020-2021).
• You can read our latest Annual Equality Information Monitoring Report 2022/23.

The following sections detail our legal, contractual and regulatory requirements and how we are meeting and exceeding these as an organisation:

The Equality Act 2010

In line with the Equality Act 2010, there is a duty for all public bodies to consider how their decisions and activities as a service provider and employer affect people who share different protected characteristics covering:

• Age
• Disability
• Gender
• Marriage and Civil Partnership
• Pregnancy and Maternity
• Race, including ethnic or national origins, colour or nationality
• Religion or belief
• Sex
• Sexual orientation

Public Sector Equality Duty

The Equality Act 2020 is made up of a general duty and specific duties which places various duties on the Trust to comply with.  The general duty has three aims and requires us to have due regard to the need to:

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimization and other conduct prohibited 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 specific duties require the Trust to publish details of how the trust is meeting the above duties, publish equality objectives and demonstrate inclusive decision making.

Our annual Equality compliance reports documents progress made in relation to the commitment and compliance to equality and inclusion and profiles our patients and employees highlighting areas of focus in the preceding year as our equality objectives.

Equality Delivery System

The Trust utilises the Equality Delivery System 2 as a performance improvement framework to deliver and monitor our progress against our statutory requirements. NHS providers are expected to use EDS2 to help them improve their equality performance for patients, communities and staff, as well as helping them to meet the Public Sector Equality Duty.

The EDS2 has four goals which are:

• Better health outcomes
• Improved patient access and experience
• A representative and supportive workforce
• Inclusive leadership

We will continue to work with our stakeholders to review our performance and identify areas for improvement.

Bolton FT Equality Delivery System Report 2023/24 (pdf).

Workforce Race Equality Standard

The Workforce Race Equality Standard aims to ensure employees from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) backgrounds have equal access to career opportunities and receive fair treatment in the workplace. It requires the Trust to demonstrate progress against nine standard indicators specifically focused at race equality through the collection, analysis and use of workforce data to address any underrepresentation, poor treatment or unequal opportunities.

Follow the link to read the WRES 2023 report for our trust.

WRES Action Plan 2023

Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES)

The NHS Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) is a set of specific measures (metrics) that enables us to compare the experiences of disabled and non-disabled staff. It supports positive change for existing employees, and enables a more inclusive environment for our employees.

Follow the link to read the WDES 2023 report for our trust.

WDES Action Plan 2023

Gender Pay Gap

The mandatory gender pay gap analysis requires us to report workforce data across gender and pay bands and develop an action plan to address any gaps or over/under representation.

We report our annual data to the Government’s Gender Pay Gap reporting portal, and we monitor it regularly through our workforce governance structure. Our latest reports can be found on their website portal.

Equality Impact Assessment

EIAs are a tool which  help us to understand how our policies, practices and service provision impact on people, positively and negatively, and put actions in place to remove or remove any disadvantage.  They help us to identify any further actions that need to be taken against all protected groups and patients and employees.

EIAs are integrated and used in policy making and service development activities and through records are kept.

Supporting access, information and communications needs

The Trust offers interpretation services to patients whose first language is not English including face to face language interpreters, telephone language interpreters, British Sign Language (BSL) and Lip Speakers. All our written information is available in different languages and formats upon request.

Wheelchairs and portable hearing loops are also available across our premises. If you have any specific needs please notify the relevant department.  The Trust is committed to continually improving access to our services and experiences of using our services.

The Trust is currently working to meet the requirements of the mandated Accessible Information Standard to ensure we can more effectively identity, flag, record,  share and meet the information and communication needs of people who have a disability, impairment or sensory loss.