What is Equality and Diversity?

Equality and diversity is simply about treating people fairly, both in the healthcare services we provide and within NHS Grampian.

Why is Equality and Diversity important?

Everyone has a legal right to be treated in a fairly, free from discrimination. The main piece of legislation in this field is the Equality Act 2010. This Act places a positive duty on all public bodies to actively promote equality and diversity in all services they provide and within their organisations and be exemplars of good practice.

The Equality Act 2010 defined the 9 components or "protected characteristics" of equality and diversity as:

• Race
• Disability
• Sexual orientation
• Religion or belief
• Sex (male or female)
• Gender reassignment
• Age (2006 - 30th September 2012 only applied in the workplace, applied in society generally from 1st October 2012)
• Pregnancy and maternity
• Marriage and civil partnership

A person has legal protection against discrimination arising from one or more of these protected characteristics.

NHS Grampian has a legal duty to be proactive in each of these nine areas.

In addition to the Equality Act 2010, the Scottish Parliament introduced the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012. This piece of legislation requires NHS Grampian to produce and publish four detailed Reports, these are:

An annual NHS Grampian Equal Pay Monitoring Report

This Report compares NHS Grampian staff pay rates between female and male employees to check that there is no discrimination. Pay rates are broken down by the three pay categories of Agenda for Change, Medical and Dental and Senior Manager. In addition, every second year the Report must also include information on staff pay broken down by ethnicity and disability. Access the latest Report.

An Annual NHS Grampian Equality and Diversity Workforce Monitoring Report

This Report examines all aspects of recruitment and selection, promotions and training opportunities across all 9 "protected characteristics". Access the latest report.

An Equality Outcomes Report

This Report sets out what NHS Grampian intends to achieve in the next four years for each of the 9 "protected characteristics". There is also a legal duty to produce a 2 year Progress Update Report. Access the latest Report.

An Equality "Mainstreaming Report"

This Report sets out what NHS Grampian intends to achieve to do to make equality and diversity an integral part of the way we function as an organisation. There is also a legal duty to produce a 2 year Progress Update Report. Access the latest Report.

All of these Reports must be easily accessible to the general public and must be placed on our website and be easily found.

Who monitors compliance?

The main Regulatory body is the Equality and Human Rights Commission for Scotland.

Within NHS Grampian, all Equality and Diversity Reports are submitted to a number of Health Board Committees and Sub Committees for approval.

NHS Grampian Equality, Diversity and Human Rights Policy

The updated NHS Grampian Equality, Diversity and Human Rights Policy (pdf) is now available.