Equality, diversity and health inequalities

Equality, diversion and inclusion

We are proud to serve a great range of diverse communities across our area.

We want to make sure that everyone in our area has the best opportunities to live the healthiest life possible – regardless of age, ethnicity, disability, religion or belief, gender identity or sexual orientation.

We are committed to providing equality of access and treatment for all people to the services we commission and being sensitive to individual needs as far as possible. We want to increase the wellbeing of people across Hertfordshire and west Essex by making sure that all patients and service users get what they need and by reducing health inequality. Our workforce and those we employ also reinforces this approach and we continue to engage with the public and seek your views in order to strengthen this work.

If you would like to tell us your thoughts and comments on ways in which we can improve our work on equality and diversity please, contact us via our communications team.

Find out more about the Public Service Equality Duty and our duties under the Equalities Act 2010.

Equalities reports

We are committed to commissioning (designing and buying) health and care services that respect and respond to the diversity of our local population.

We want to provide equal access and treatment for everyone using local healthcare services, and not to discriminate on any basis. This is about:

fairness
reducing health inequalities
increasing the health and wellbeing of our population.

We are equally committed to attracting and developing a diverse workforce that properly reflects the communities we serve.

We are working to embed equality, diversity and inclusivity into our plans, processes, employment practices and commissioning of services. This includes supporting all organisations who deliver healthcare services to maximise equality and to tackle inequity and barriers for patients.

Equality Act 2010 and Public Sector Equality Duty

Our legal responsibilities are set out in the Equality Act 2010. We work closely with local people, patients, providers, staff and voluntary organisations to help further equality and eliminate any discrimination within our services and working environments.

The Public Sector Equality Duty provides the framework for our equality and diversity work.

The Public Sector Equality Duty requires us to report on service provision and how we use information about the nine equality groups covered by the Equality Act to set objectives. Find more information about how we do that, including our Joint Forward Plan, on our website.

You can find a health overview of our Integrated Care System population on the Population Health Management page of our website. It includes links to Primary Care Network Packs, which include assessment of the prevention and health inequalities needs of patients. The needs of patients across both Hertfordshire and Essex can also been seen in Joint Strategic Needs Assessments, available through these links: Hertfordshire Joint Strategic Needs Assessment Essex Joint Strategic Needs Assessment.

One of the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty is we publish information on our workforce broken down by equality group.

View the latest Workforce Equality Data Report 2024.

Annual Workforce Data Report 2024 (450kB pdf)

Equality strategy and action plan

The ICB has developed an equality strategy and action plan. The strategy and action plan is shaped by the findings of the range of equality data and information we are required to publish, some of which are covered below.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy and Strategy 2023-27 (306kB pdf)

Equality Delivery System

The Equality Delivery System (EDS) helps NHS organisations to:

understand and fulfil their equality and diversity duties
deliver better outcomes for patients and communities
create better working environments for staff.

View the Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB Equality Delivery System Report 2024.

Equality Delivery System Report 2024 (316kB pdf)

Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) and Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES)

All NHS organisations, including Integrated Care Boards and healthcare providers, must use the WRES and WDES to measure the experiences in the workforce of minority ethnic and disabled colleagues. This information is included in our Annual Workforce Data Report.

Gender Pay Gap reporting

Information on our gender pay gap is included in our Annual Workforce Data Report.

The ICB is required to publish its 2024 gender pay gap information by March 2025 and will meet this deadline. Find further information on Gender pay gap reporting: guidance for employers on the GOV.UK website.

You can also search and compare gender pay gap data for relevant employers.

We have developed the Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) as a tool to measure the experiences in the workforce of minority ethnic colleagues.