The NCA takes its commitment to equality seriously.
We routinely, and with their permission, collect equality data on patients and staff members. This is used to ensure our services and employment opportunities are fair and accessible to all.
To highlight our achievements during the past year, we publish an annual equality and diversity report covering ongoing work across service delivery and employment. It also includes our plans to address areas for improvement and highlights our successes.
This report is an important part of our obligation to keep improving our performance under the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty contained within that legislation.
It forms evidence of our commitment to:
- eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation
- advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic* and those who don’t
- foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who don’t
- understand the impact of policies, services and practice on people with different protected characteristics
You’re welcome to download our latest reports above, including data spreadsheets covering all the protected characteristics. Where there are gaps in the data provided, this is explained within the body of the reports.
*Protected characteristics are:
Age, disability, ethnicity (race), gender reassignment, sex, religion and belief, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, and marriage and civil partnerships.
The Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) aims to improve the experience of ethnic minority staff in the workplace.
This includes employment, promotion and training opportunities, plus their experience of the employee relation process so discrimination, harassment and unfair treatment is eliminated. It also applies to ethnic minority people who want to work in the NHS.
For the NCA this means making tackling race equality a priority.
The WRES allows us to focus on key areas including:
- increasing ethnic minority representation at senior management and board level
- improving the experience of ethnic minority staff in the employee relations process and NHS Staff Survey
- implementing non-mandatory training and development opportunities for ethnic minority members of staff
Introduced by NHS England in 2015, the scheme requires NHS organisations to close the gap between the ethnic minority and white staff experience.
Using the WRES tool, measuring those gaps and taking action will achieve:
- better health outcomes for all
- improved access and experience
- a representative, valued and supported workforce
- tangible progress in eliminating discrimination
- a positive working culture
- more opportunities for ethnic minority staff
The Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) aims to create a more inclusive environment for disabled people working and seeking employment in the NHS.
It enables NHS organisations to better understand the experiences of their disabled staff, compare them with those of non-disabled staff, and support positive change for all existing employees.
Introduced into the NHS Standard Contract in 2018/19, the WDES requires organisations to demonstrate progress against specific indicators of workforce equality.
At the NCA, we’re committed to making a difference for disabled staff.
Our annual action plan is developed and published based on key metrics, allowing us to demonstrate progress towards full disabled equality.
We believe that a motivated, included and valued workforce helps to deliver high quality patient care, increased patient satisfaction and improved patient safety.
Each year, the NCA reviews its performance against NHS England’s equality performance framework, EDS2.
Our EDI Function gathers evidence from across the Group and works with local people from our diverse communities, including local Healthwatch and community groups, who review our data and decide the grade.
If you’d like further information about the NHS Equality Delivery System, visit the national EDS website: NHS England EDS 2.