Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

On the 1st October 2010 the Government introduced the new Equality Act which supersedes all previous equality legislation and brings together all previous equality legislation in to one piece of legislation. The Equality Act expands and increases some parts of previously existing equality legislation while leaving some legislation unaltered.

In the Equality Act it refers to 'protected characteristics', these were previously known as 'strands' and the existing six characteristics have been increased to nine. The new characteristics are: Gender Identity (or Gender Reassignment), Marriage and Civil Partnership and Pregnancy and Maternity plus the existing ones of age, disability, gender, race, religion and belief and sexual orientation.

The Trust recognises that it has a duty to make reasonable adjustments in respect of those staff who have a disability as set out in the Equality Act 2010. However, what amounts to a reasonable adjustment will depend on the circumstances of each individual employee. If you would like more information regarding your position, please discuss with your Manager and Human Resources.

Equality,  Diversity and Inclusion is based on the recognition that every human being is different in their own rich and varied way and such differences should be valued and respected. Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust actively promotes Equality and Diversity good practice and is an organisation that cares about having a culture and practices that recognise, respect, value and harness difference for the benefit of the patients, carers, members of the public and members of staff.

The information in this section aims to increase staff understanding and awareness of diversity and provides reference sources for each dimension of diversity, together with access to Trust E, D & I Policies and E, D & I learning and development opportunities.

Policies & Procedures