Equality, inclusion and human rights

We understand and recognise that:

• People can experience inequalities, discrimination, harassment, and other barriers
• Patients should be at the centre of our decision making, and in partnership we can respond and deliver high quality, accessible services that tackle inequalities 
• We must strive to create and maintain an environment of dignity, tolerance and mutual respect that can be experienced by all of our patients, colleagues and members.

We want to:

• Create a community where local people and clinicians continue to work together to improve healthcare quality and outcomes
• Ensure that the objectives of Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board continue to focus on equality in everything we do.

Our aim is to:

• Integrate inclusion and equality considerations into everything we do by becoming an inclusive organisation. We are committed to listening and responding to our community and colleagues by meeting their diverse needs and addressing local health inequalities

• Deliver on statutory and legal obligations, aligning this with our work to address health inequalities by focusing on improving organisational performance. We are also working hard to reduce health inequalities between people of different protected characteristics. Protected characteristics are: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.

We will strive to embed equality and diversity in all key aspects of developing services, procurement and employment practices. Northamptonshire ICB;

1. Must prepare and publish one or more equality objectives it thinks it should achieve to support the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). The objectives must be published at intervals of no greater than four years, with information updated annually on progress. Each objective must be specific and measurable
2. Must publish information, no later than March 31, each year, to demonstrate compliance with the PSED.

As part of the PSED, Northamptonshire ICB focuses on:

1. Eliminating discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Equality Act 2010
2. Advancing equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it
3. Fostering good relations between individuals who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.

NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board (NICB) has identified corporate equality objectives to drive strategic and demonstrable equality improvements in meeting its obligations under the Equality Act 2010; Public Sector Equality Duty and Specific Equality Duties to:-

• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act;
• advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not; and
• foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

The corporate equality objectives noted below have been identified for the next four  years (2024 to 2027), and are outlined in more detail in Appendix A:-

(a)  Equality Objective 1  - Continued Development as an inclusive employer
This equality objective follows on from the objective of previous years to progress actions to identify and reduce workplace barriers and biases.  The objective identifies nine clear actions linked to:—

• NHS EDI Improvement Plan;
• Data from local and national Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) and Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES);
• Michelle Cox’s high profile Race Discrimination Employment Tribunal actions; and
• NHS England Midlands priorities to address the historical inequity faced by ethnic minority nursing, midwifery and allied health professionals.

Over the next four years, the NICB will work co-productively with key stakeholders on targeted actions that will have value and input to overcome specific inequalities, discrimination and marginalisation experienced by certain groups.

(b) Equality Objective 2  - Reducing Health Inequalities
The ‘Reducing Health Inequalities’ objective has been divided into two parts ie (1) reducing health inequalities in the NICB workforce; and (2) reducing health inequalities in the community, (by the co-productive development of a race health inequality plan):-

• Part 1, Health Inequalities in NICB Workforce -   The NHS workforce is large and diverse and as such reflects wider society. NHS staff face the same inequalities as the broader population.
• Research has shown that supporting and investing in employee health and wellbeing can lead to increased resilience, better employee engagement, reduced sickness absence, higher performance/productivity, ultimately leading to better patient care.
• Influenced by the NHS Health and Wellbeing Framework, Healthy Leadership Framework and NHS People Promise, NICB will work closely with the Integrated Care Northamptonshire Retain Workstream to create a wellbeing culture involving a programme to raise awareness and to support NICB staff with health inequalities in the workplace. 
• Part 2,   Race Health Inequality Plan - Covid-19 widened health inequalities in England by disproportionately affecting those already experiencing health inequalities, such as those living in the most deprived areas and people from ethnic minority backgrounds. As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, life expectancy in England fell in 2020 for the first time since 2000.  The ongoing effects of the pandemic on the economy are likely to impact different parts of the population differently, and therefore to widen health inequalities further (Health inequalities in a nutshell | The King's Fund (kingsfund.org.uk) ). 

On 12 December 2023, Northamptonshire Black Communities Together hosted the ‘Tackling Racial Health Inequalities in Northamptonshire  Conference’. The NICB Chief Executive Officer was a keynote speaker and made a commitment to work in partnership with ethnic minority communities to develop Northamptonshire’s first Race Health Inequality Plan.  Dr Habib Naqvi from the NHS Race and Health Observatory (also a keynote speaker at the conference) agreed to take on the role of NICB’s ‘critical friend’ to help steer the development of the Race Health Inequality Plan.

Formulation of the NICB Race Health Inequalities Plan will involve:-

1. Design of a framework and conducting research; 
2. Implementation of the Race Health Inequalities Plan; and
3. Evaluation and measuring impact of the Race Health Inequalities Plan.  

As work on the Race Health Inequality Plan develops, additional actions will be added to this equality objective.

How we are meeting these objectives
The document below sets out how we are meeting these objectives to date. This document will be updated periodically.

NCIB Public Equality Objectives 2024-27 - meeting the objective (September 2024)[pdf] 152KB

Due to the size of the organisation, Northamptonshire ICB is not required to produce detailed staff profiles by protected characteristics. This protects the privacy of our colleagues as any profiles of protected characteristics would allow individuals to be identified.

The Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) has been developed as a tool to measure the experiences in the workforce of minority ethnic colleagues. We submit data to NHS England on this every year.

The Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) has been developed as a tool to measure the experiences in the workforce of disabled colleagues. We submit data to NHS England on this every year.

All of Northamptonshire ICB’s internal workforce policies have been developed in line with current legislative requirements, including the Equality Act 2010. These policies cover the recruitment, selection and appointment process, as well as all aspects of working for Northamptonshire ICB.

In addition, Northamptonshire ICB has developed its equality objectives to include working with employees to ensure it is a supportive, respectful and fair employer.

Two reports are available to read:

NICB-Workforce Race Equality Standard Final Report 2021-22.pdf [pdf] 820KB

NICB- Workforce Disability Equality Standard Final Report 2021-22 .pdf [pdf] 246KB

NICB Workforce Race Equality Standard Final Report 2023-24 [pdf] 658KB

NICB Workforce Disability Equality Standard Final Report 2023-24 [pdf] 647KB

Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board and NHS partner organisations within Northamptonshire are proud to work with the Equality Delivery System (EDS) 2022 to ensure we are developing and improving services, free from discrimination, to meet the needs of our patients, service users, communities and our staff.

We have been supported by NHS England to develop plans for our  EDS 2022 approach, and have agreed to complete the NHS England Case Study for EDS 2022  Domain 1.  As a case study, NHS England will provide bespoke support and guidance to Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board during the transition to the new EDS 2022 framework.

As part of the review of Domain 1, please see our action plan to implement the review of our Chaplaincy Services and Diabetes Services for the period April 2022 to March 2023. 

EDS 2022 Action Plan for Diabetes and Chaplaincy Services - 2022-23[pdf] 174KB

The review will look at four important elements:

• 1A  Service users have required levels of access to the service;
• 1B  Individual service user’s health needs are met;
• 1C  When service users use the service, they are free from harm;
• 1D  Service users report positive experiences of the service.

We will complete EDS in partnership with our patients, communities and staff who will be invited to be part of focus groups that will score/rate our Chaplaincy and Diabetes Services. Following the service review of focus groups, Service Improvement Plans will be developed and considered by our various governance processes and shared with key stakeholders.  This page will then be updated with  accordingly.

NHS Northamptonshire ICB EDS - Domain 2: Workforce Health and Well-Being Report 2022-23[pdf] 248KB 
NHS Northamptonshire ICB EDS - Domain 3, Inclusive Leadership Report 2022-23[pdf] 210KB

Northamptonshire ICB EDS Domain 2 Final Report 2023.pdf[pdf] 140KB
Northamptonshire ICB EDS Domain 3 Final Report 2023.pdf[pdf] 197KB

Northamptonshire ICB EDS Domain 2 Action Plan 2024-25[pdf] 145KB

In line with our Equality, Inclusion and Human Rights statement, we aim to create a Community where local people and local Clinicians continue to work together to improve equal healthcare access, experience and outcomes  and to ensure that the objectives of the Clinical Commissioning Group continue to focus on equality in everything we do including our workforce.

As a publicly funded organisation we are required to publish information annually on how we met the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) and the progress we have made in achieving our equality objectives.

NHS Northamptonshire Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) Annual Report 2022-2023[pdf] 549KB

Northamptonshire ICB Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) Annual Report 2023-2024[pdf] 1MB

Change in reporting period
NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board will amend the reporting period for its Public Sector Equality Duties from calendar to fiscal year reporting. This change will ensure that all  NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board published reports are aligned to the fiscal year reporting cycle.

So that the NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board can align to the new reporting period the following actions will be taken:—

• The next Public Sector Equality Duty Report will cover a 15-month period, i.e. from 1 January 2024 to 31 March 2025;
• Future Public Sector Equality Duty Reports will be fiscal year reporting, covering a 12— month period from April to March (e.g. 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026).

14 August 2024

NICB Public Notice - Change in Reporting Period [pdf] 105KB