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.

We have been working to develop Equality Objectives that help us establish a strong foundation on which to build future equalities activities.

• Equality objective 1: Continue to integrate inclusion and equality conditions into the decisions we make
• Equality objective 2: Continue to develop as an inclusive employer to ensure staff are aware of and supported to meet the evolving needs of the organisation and local communities
• Equality objective 3: Continue to focus on understanding gaps in health outcomes for the diverse local communities and working to reduce inequality.

We want to create an inclusive and supportive environment for the people we serve that delivers the ambitions of the Behaviours and Values Framework:

• Compassionate
• Effective
• Safe 
• Support
  
  

Equality Objectives 2024 — 2027
Under the Equality Act 2010 section 149, public authorities are required, in carrying out their functions, to have due regard to the need to achieve the objectives set out under section 149  of the Equality Act 2010 to:

• eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is 
  prohibited by or under the Equality Act 2010;
• 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.

To ensure transparency, and to assist in the performance of this duty, the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011 require that public authorities publish equality objectives, at least every four years. NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board is currently developing new equality objectives to cover the period 2024 – 2027. It is anticipated that the new objectives will be published on the website in the next few months.

23rd July 2024

NICB Public Notice - Equality Objectives 2024-2027 [pdf] 104KB

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