The Health and Social Care Information Centre
Public Sector Equality Duty
January 2012
Updated April 2012 with Equality Objectives (Section 5).
The Health and Social Care Information Centre
Public Sector Equality Duty
Foreword from the Chief Executive
I am very proud of my organisation’s role in helping to provide equal access to public services by producing the information to enable effective decision making and
highlighting issues for disadvantaged groups in health and social care. We work with many organisations that represent the interests of particular groups of people to ensure that our statistical publications are relevant to their particular needs.
I am committed to ensuring that equality and diversity underpin the way we conduct our business and treat staff, colleagues and customers alike – particularly given our responsibility for NHS and Social Care data.
Public access to information continues to grow in the information age and it is important that, as an information provider, we are
representative of the public we serve.
It is important that we appreciate that working with, and for, people of different
characteristics, backgrounds and cultures may occasionally challenge our own personal views, making us look at issues from new perspectives. I have no doubt we can learn from this interaction as an organisation and be enriched by it.
I am very pleased that my personal
commitment to the importance of equality and diversity is supported by my senior
management team and staff across the organisation.
We recognise our responsibility for ensuring that the wider policies and practices in health and social care reflect and meet the needs of a diverse population. We should be alert to the fact that people of different characteristics are often able to contribute to change for the better through their own experiences, but are not always empowered to do so. It is for this reason that we work with many different groups from the design stage of our information products and publications.
Our commitment to the Equality Act will never lead to complacency – our equality objectives will demonstrate our desire for continuous improvement and will form a key part of organisational performance.
Tim Straughan
CEO, Health and Social Care Information Centre
Contents
1 The Public Sector Equality Duty 4
2 Working with the Health and Social Care Information Centre 5
2.1 Employment 5
2.2 Workforce Data 7
3 Our Services 10
3.1 Accessing Our Information 11
3.2 Provision of Services 12
4 Supplying services to the Health and Social Care
Information Centre 15
5 Equality objectives 16
Appendix A –
Further examples of consultation with Interested Groups18
1. The Public Sector Equality Duty
The Equality Act came into effect in April 2010 replacing previous anti-discrimination legislation with a single legal framework. This has strengthened the law in a number of important ways to help to tackle discrimination and inequality.
The public sector Equality Duty is included in the Act and applies to public bodies such as the Health and Social Care Information Centre.
The Equality Duty is supported by specific duties which came into force in September 2011. These require listed organisations to:
• Publish information to show their compliance with the Equality Duty, at least once per year;
• Set and publish equality objectives, at least every four years.
This document is our publication to show compliance and has been produced by the Health and Social Care Information Centre with due regard to the general duty of the Equality Act to:
i. Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Act;
ii. Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it;
iii. Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.
The protected characteristics covered by the three aims:
Age Disability Gender
reassignment
Pregnancy and Maternity
Race Religion or belief
Sex Sexual orientation
Marriage and civil partnership status is also covered in respect of the aim of eliminating unlawful discrimination.
2. Working with the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC)
Whether you are a customer, a full or part-time employee, applying for a job or working for us via an agency or other arrangement, you can expect to be treated fairly and with respect and dignity - regardless of whether you share or are associated with one or more protected characteristics.
We expect all of our staff to maintain a culture where individuals receive fair and equal treatment and a positive work environment - free of harassment and bullying. Working together and respecting each other’s contribution is at the heart of our organisational values.
In this regard we have two key policies which apply to all our staff:
• Respect and Dignity at Work Policy
• Equality and Diversity Policy
As new policies are developed and reviewed we consider their potential impact on people with protected characteristics; where necessary we put in steps to ensure that no one is disadvantaged.
We have an intranet page dedicated to equality where our workers are able to access key policies, practices and tips on maintaining our diverse culture. This also provides information on forthcoming events and religious festivals.
Even before starting to work for us, all staff (including contractors and agency workers) must
complete a pre-arrival checklist. This explains the nine protected characteristics and the behaviours that we expect.
2.1 Employment
We believe that by running fair recruitment processes we will get the best employees who are representative of the communities we serve. We gather and monitor Equality Data during recruitment but this is separated from the process itself. Personal data is also removed until interviews are arranged.
We provide recruitment training for managers who are running recruitment exercises. We were reassessed in October 2011 to maintain our Disability Two Ticks accreditation.
All recruited employees are appointed on NHS Terms and Conditions and paid according to the NHS job evaluation system to ensure equal pay for jobs of equal value.
In addition to their induction programme, managers must ensure that employees complete
mandatory equality and diversity training. Attendance is monitored centrally and forms part of the organisation’s performance management system.
Line managers have particular responsibilities to promote an equal and fair culture. We provide a Management Development Programme which provides managers with skills and awareness of managing people while respecting and valuing their differences.
We recognise that our employees have commitments and duties outside of work. Our work policies make provision for flexible working and all employees can have a request to change their
contractual working pattern considered. By operating a childcare voucher scheme we try to help make childcare a little more affordable for parents, guardians and carers who work for us.
We are aware that however resilient we would like to think we are, everyone may, from time to time, experience difficulties in their personal or work lives. Our Employee Assistance Programme offers confidential, independent services designed to provide a little extra support. On health related matters we accept that we are not experts and therefore seek professional advice from our Occupational Health Provider. Our sickness and absence policy makes particular provision for disability and pregnancy.
Whilst our staff tend to agree that work related issues are on the whole best dealt with informally, our grievance procedure allows employees to raise their concerns and have them dealt with formally.
Our procedure specifies that any instances which allege discrimination have the benefit of another manager/ independent investigating officer to investigate their complaint.
We seek to understand any issues which arise across our wider workforce and participate in the NHS Staff Survey on a voluntary basis.
2.2 Workforce Data
We have a diverse workforce across our three sites in England and in this section we present summary data on our employees. We monitor this data against local and national information. The workforce data presented in this section was taken from October 2011 and based upon 498 employees.
Gender – Headcount of Female and Male Employees
Female, 252, 51%
Male, 246, 49%
Female/Male Salaries
Average pay, split by gender within the HSCIC
Average Female Salary, £29,043 Average Male
Salary, £36,649
Gender split by pay band w ithin the HSCIC
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
AO AfC 3 IP1 Upper AfC 4 AfC 5 EO IP2 Standard IP3 Standard 1 AfC 6 IP3 Standard 2 AfC 7 AfC 8a IP4 Standard AfC 8b IP4 Upper AfC 8c AfC 8d AfC 9 Personal ALL Grades
Banding in Approximate Hierachy Order
Female Male
Ethnicity – Breakdown of Employees
Code1 Ethnic Group Number of Employees Percentage
A White – British 392 78.7%
B White – Irish 2 0.4%
CB White Scottish 1 0.2%
CB White – Any other White 12 2.4%
CX White Mixed 26 5.2%
D Mixed – White & Black Caribbean 1 0.2%
GF Mixed – Other/Unspecified 1 0.2%
H Asian or Asian British – Indian 13 2.6%
J Asian or Asian British – Pakistani 7 1.4%
M Black or Black British – Caribbean 4 0.8%
N Black or Black British – African 1 0.2%
R Chinese 2 0.4%
LA Asian Mixed 2 0.4%
NK Not Known 2 0.4%
Z Not Disclosed 32 6.4%
All Groups 498 100.0%
1 Codes are taken from the Human Resource Management System (ESR)
Age – Distribution of Employees
Age Profile of Employees at the HSCIC
0.0%
1.8%
11.4%
22.7%
16.3%
9.6%
14.3%
12.9%
6.8%
3.6%
0.4% 0.2% 0.0%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
Under 20 20-24 25-29
30-34 35-39
40-44 45-49
50-54 55-59
60-64 65-
69 70+
Undisclosed
Part-time/Full-time status
Working Pattern Status of Employees in the HSCIC
51%
87%
49%
13%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Full-time Part-time
Male Female
3. Our Services
The Health and Social Care Information Centre is primarily a business to business organisation;
providing information and information services to other public, not-for-profit and commercial organisations.
However, as a public body, we recognise the importance of making data, information and analysis available to the public, charitable, patient and professional bodies. We release over 120 official and national statistics each year covering a wide range of topics. These can be viewed by the public on our website or on request via our contact centre.
Members of the public can also get involved by providing comments and feedback on many of our publications. Details of how to participate in this process are available on our website.
Example of a Publication Inviting Comments
3.1 Accessing Our Information
Our data, statistical publications and information services are available to our customers and the public through our corporate website. The site currently complies with the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C's) Level A guidelines. We will be making improvements to our website this summer, aiming to achieve the top conformance level AAA wherever possible. We will involve disabled users in gathering requirements and testing during development to ensure our website is as accessible and usable as possible.
We provide our publications in alternative formats, on request, including; audio, Braille and large font print versions. Printed publications are routinely colour-blind tested to ensure they render as distinct for visual impaired readers. Our publications and some press releases are also available in different languages, on request.
Our contact centre is able to help members of the public as well as other organisations to find the information that they seek. We provide a hearing loop service. Please contact us at
[email protected] or 0845 300 6016 for more details.
We closely monitor the press to ensure media coverage using our data and statistics have been fairly and accurately represented, following up any inaccuracies through a formal complaints procedure.
Health and Social Care Collections in one place
There are currently a large number of health and social care indicator collections available from a broad range of online sources. The Indicator Portal was devised to provide access to a growing number of these collections in a format that is easy-to-use, convenient and comprehensive.
The service is freely available to members of the public and no registration is required.
https://indicators.ic.nhs.uk/webview/
Bringing together a range of health and social care indicator collections the portal contains all the indicators on Clinical and Health Outcomes as well as a ‘Local Basket of Inequalities Indicators’. This is a collection of 60 indicators, helping organisations to measure health and other factors which influence health inequalities, alongside a range of other health indicators.
You can also find information about the resident population including their gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief where this is available on treatments, surveys and other interventions.
3.2 Provision of Services
Working with us
To ensure that we design, collect and produce information which is relevant, we identify and engage with stakeholders who represent different groups and interests. Examples include:
Public Health Observatories, Local Health Authorities (social care), the Healthcare Commission, Bryson Purdon Social Research (commissioned by the Office for Disability Issues), MIND, Mencap, The National Autistic Society, Carers UK, the Child and Maternal Health Observatory as well as many NHS Organisations, the Department of Health and academic institutions.
The list above is not exhaustive - see appendix A for more examples.
We continue to invite others to participate in our consultation exercises.
You can respond on behalf of an organisation or as an individual:
http://www.ic.nhs.uk/work-with-us/consultations
… or, get involved via our contact centre:
[email protected] or 0845 300 6016
Design of Datasets and Collections
We work to ensure that we identify and include relevant stakeholders in the design, development and quality assurance of our services.
We work closely with the Information Standards Board (ISB) and the National Information Governance Board Ethics and Confidentiality Committee to ensure that new datasets and
collections contain appropriate data items that are necessary for the purpose and are collected within appropriate legal and governance frameworks.
Our Review of Central Returns team provide a service for the Department of Health and its Arms Length Bodies to reduce the burden of data collection on the NHS. Part of this service is to ensure that consideration is given to collecting ethnicity information within national collections in a consistent manner based on approved data standards.
www.ic.nhs.uk/rocr/collectingethnicinformation
We ensure that data quality processes for collection include feedback to organisations to help them improve data completeness of required data items e.g. ethnicity, sex and age. We also report publicly on data quality analysis.
Examples of dataset developments that include protected characteristics:
• The Mental Health Minimum Dataset – already contains age, marital status, ethnicity and gender. Reporting is routinely provided on age, gender and ethnicity.
• The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Dataset – contains all protected characteristics except marital status, gender reassignment and pregnancy indicator; this is mandated to flow from April 2012.
• The Community Information Dataset – contains age, ethnicity and gender; disability is included as a pilot item for further work; local use is mandated.
Public Reporting and Stakeholder Engagement
Our reports are available on our website and are also circulated through partner organisations such as the National Kidney Federation for the National Kidney Care Audits; patient transport and vascular access.
We regularly review our work programmes to ensure that we are involving appropriate stakeholders and communicating effectively.
For example, the Health and Social Care Information Centre carried out a review of population based health related surveys in 2008 about the structure of its surveys programme and the development of the Health Survey for England. This review resulted in the creation of the IC Health Surveys
Programme Network (HSPN). This uses a variety of methods to engage with users, including survey newsletters, workshops with users, survey steering groups and the Survey Programme Advisory Group (SPAG).
We also focus on specific topic areas related to protected characteristics in our surveys, analyses and reports.
Examples of specific focus areas:
• Each year the Health Survey for England (HSE) has one or more focus topics (eg 09 health &
lifestyles, 08 physical activity, 06 Cardio Vascular Disease and obesity, 05 older people); the report and trend tables relate these topics to the dimensions collected where appropriate, usually by age and sex. The detailed dataset is available at the UK Data Archive. This has more demographic data including relationships, income, educational and employment status of respondents.
• HSE data can be used to relate to specific dimensions, e.g. Disability is covered in part by existing questions on mobility, self care and ability to perform everyday activities.
• Hospital Episode Statistics data published with particular focus on age:
Factures - 2010-11 Month 3 Assaults - 2010-11 Month 13 Asthma - 2011-12 Month 4
We also produce analysis findings that focus on specific equality dimensions:
• HSE 2009 - Around two fifths of people had a longstanding illness (41 per cent of men, 43 per cent of women). Almost a quarter reported that an illness limited their activity in some way (22 per cent of men and 23 per cent of women).
• HSE 2005 - Among people aged 65 and over, 37 per cent of men and 40 per cent of women reported having at least one functional limitation (seeing, hearing, communication, walking, or using stairs).
• HSE 2005 - The prevalence of high geriatric depression scores (GDS10) was related to self- reported general health: 6 per cent of men and 8 per cent of women reporting very good health had high GDS10 scores, compared with 71 per cent and 79 per cent respectively among those reporting very bad health
• Clinical Audit reports and recommendations include the National Diabetes Audit Executive Summary 2009-2010:
This provides analysis by age, sex, deprivation and ethnicity. The recommendations of the report include:
address the inequitable treatment outcomes related to - type 1 diabetes, younger age (<40 years), low socio-economic status;
paediatric diabetes teams should work in partnership with children, young people and their parents to find ways of improving glucose control;
commissioners should use evidence and information to ensure that services for children and young people develop and deliver the capacity and capability to improve diabetes care.
4. Supplying Services to the Health and Social Care Information Centre
Potential suppliers can expect to be treated fairly in the way that we reach decisions on buying their services. In return, we expect our suppliers to be advocates of equality and diversity and this forms a part of our procurement diligence.
The requirements of the Equality Act mean that whenever one of our functions is carried out by an external supplier we remain responsible for meeting the Equality Duty. This means building equality considerations into the appropriate stages of our commissioning and procurement processes.
To win or maintain a contract with the Health and Social Care Information Centre suppliers must adhere to terms and conditions which:
• Prohibit the contractor from unlawful discrimination
• Require the contractor to take all reasonable steps to ensure that their staff, suppliers and subcontractors meet their obligations under the general duty of the Equality Act
• May result in elimination or termination if the contractor (including its supplier or
subcontractor) has been found by a court or tribunal to have breached Equality Legislation
5. Equality Objectives
We recognise that there is always room for improvement. In this section we present our equality objectives. These are divided into two main themes resulting from the output of two working parties.
Under the public sector Equality Duty objectives must be published by the 6th April and every four years following. At the HSCIC we have taken the view that many objectives will be achievable over a shorter time-scale and so intend to publish new objectives more regularly.
5.1 Workforce Objectives
Objective Rationale Deadline Responsible
Owner
We will improve the quality of the data we hold on diversity by enabling our employees to view and update their personnel records online.
To improve our understanding of the characteristics of our workforce allowing more effective monitoring. This in turn will provide an opportunity to take action where necessary to improve equality.
December 2012
Head of HR
We will collate diversity information on our recruitment activity
(applications, short-listing, interview and selection) from April and publish each quarter.
To be open and transparent about the outcomes of our recruitment process and to take action where necessary to reflect the
community we serve.
From June 2012
Head of HR
We will make Equality and Diversity training a mandatory annual event by:
• delivering training through the National Learning Management System
• Monitoring annual compliance by directorate and team and individual through performance indicators
To ensure that our staff maintain their knowledge of the benefits of working in a diverse and fair environment
March 2013 Head of OD
The working group are still considering a further workforce objective - this will be published once it has been fully developed.
5.2 Service Provision Objectives
Objective Rationale Deadline Responsible
Owner
We will initiate discussions with ONS, DH and other interested parties including the wider Government Statistical Service with a view to looking at the new equalities dimensions and how they could be included in population surveys.
To widen awareness of the new
dimensions and try to ensure that the data is collected in population health surveys in a coherent and harmonised way across the public sector.
March 2014 Head of Population Health
We are currently finalising further objectives with regard to our Provision of Services these will be released in the next few weeks as they become available.
Appendix A –
Further Examples of Consultation with Interested Groups
Example of organisations involved in Population Health Surveys Steering Groups. The following organisations are involved in the design and publication of the surveys listed:
Population Health Surveys:
Working in partnership with other organisations
Infant Feeding Survey Health Survey for England Carers Survey Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey Autism Spectrum Condition Study (2007) Attitudes to Mental Health Survey Adult Dental Health Survey Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among young people Child and Maternal Health
Observatory (CHIMAT)
Food Standards Agency
York University
Public Health Observatories
Local Authorities (social care) CSSR
Kent University Personal Social
Services Research Unit (PSSRU)
University College London
Carers UK
LSE (PSSRU)
University of Leicester
Kings College London
Healthcare Commission
St George’s Medical School – clinical
psychology
Bryson Purdon Social Research (commissioned by Office for Disability
Issues)
Population Health Surveys:
Working in partnership with other organisations
Infant Feeding Survey Health Survey for England Carers Survey Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey Autism Spectrum Condition Study (2007) Attitudes to Mental Health Survey Adult Dental Health Survey Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among young people
MIND
Time to Change
The Dental Observatory
British Dental Association
National Foundation for Educational
Research
Home Office
DfE
Example of charitable and patient representation within the Clinical Audit Support Unit Working Groups:
Clinical Audit Support Unit -
Working in conjunction with charitable
organisations Head and Neck Cancer DMAG Head and Neck Cancer Clinical Ref Group Lung Cancer Board Lung Cancer Clinical Ref Group Oesophgo-Gastric Board Oesophgo-Gastric Clinical Ref Group Bowel Cancer Board National Diabetes Audit Partnership Board National Diabetes Audit Exec Board Dementia and Anti-Psychotic Prescribing Audit
British Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons
Royal College of Pathologists
Royal College of Physicians
Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland
Royal College of General Practitioners
Roy Castle Foundation
Royal College of Surgeons
Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons of
Great Britain Ireland
British Association for Cancer Surgery
Oesophageal Patients Association
The Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain
and Ireland
Diabetes UK
Alzheimer's Society
Royal College of General Practitioners
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Association of British Clinical Diabetologists
Royal College of Nursing
Clinical Audit Support Unit -
Working in conjunction with charitable
organisations Head and Neck Cancer DMAG Head and Neck Cancer Clinical Ref Group Lung Cancer Board Lung Cancer Clinical Ref Group Oesophgo-Gastric Board Oesophgo-Gastric Clinical Ref Group Bowel Cancer Board National Diabetes Audit Partnership Board National Diabetes Audit Exec Board Dementia and Anti-Psychotic Prescribing Audit
Community Diabetes Consultants
Diabetes Inpatient Specialist Nurse
Foot in Diabetes UK
Primary Care Diabetes Society
Leicester University - Division of General Practice
and Primary Health Care
Persons with diabetes, Diabetes UK (4
Representatives)
Addenbrooke's Hospital - Institute of Metabolic
Sciences (IMS)
Diabetes Management & Education Group
The University of Sheffield School of Health and
Related Research