Public sector equality duty
Equality, diversity and inclusion team
Report period: 1 March 2022 – 31 March 2023
Date of report produced: 1 April 2023
1. Meeting the public sector equality duty
The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) is committed to providing the best possible quality of care and services for patients and to be the employer of choice for staff. To do this, we embrace our public sector equality duties in order to:
- Advance equality of opportunity.
- Eliminate discrimination, harassment, and victimisation.
- Foster good relations between groups of people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not.
This commitment is made across all the protected characteristics recognised under the Equality Act 2010:
- Age
- Disability
- Gender reassignment
- Marriage and civil partnership
- Pregnancy and maternity
- Race
- Religion and belief
- Sex
- Sexual orientation
- *Social deprivation
*We are aware that social deprivation is not a protected characteristic currently, but it can influence life choices which can lead to health inequalities.
With the support of the analytical division, the EDI team monitors staff representation of the nine protected characteristics on a monthly basis and provides a narrative to the senior leadership team. These stats then inform any future action plans. Several surveys are conducted each year including NHS staff survey, pulse surveys, training need analysis surveys, equality network surveys and patient engagement surveys.
McKenzie Human Resources LLP were appointed to help design surveys for some staff equality networks including: Black and Minority Ethnicity (BME), Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT+) and the Disability Support Networks. This work will help enhance the sense of belong and inclusivity amongst staff. One-to-one interviews were offered by Mackenzie to understand the concerns of BME, LGBT+, disability support network who have completed the survey to help shape any future action plans and bring about positive change.
2. EEAST’s inclusivity plan
The Trust has developed an inclusivity plan that supports the organisation in meeting its public sector equality duty both general and specific.
Inclusivity at a glance
- Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES)
- Workforce Disability Standards (WDES)
- Equality Delivery System (EDS22)
- Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Training / Equality Impact Assessment
- Black and Minority Ethnicity (BME) survey
- Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) survey
- Disability survey
- Pulse survey 2022
- Six equality networks
- Gender pay gap
- Anti-racism charter
- Inclusive recruitment
- Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) action plan
- Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) investigation
There are a range of equality standards the Trust works towards and they all have an annual reporting requirement. Reports are approved in line with the governance procedures set within the Trust. The following reports are approved by the leadership team before being submitted and can be found on the EEAST website.
- Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES)
- Workforce Disability Standards (WDES)
- Equality Delivery System (EDS22)
- Gender Pay Gap
- Anti-Racism Charter
3. Gender Pay Gap
Gender Pay Gap supports the organisation in bridging the gap between male and female average hourly rate and address the disproportionality between the two. Figures are reported annually to Gov.uk. This work is also supported by a 3-year action plan which was produced in partnership with the All Women at EEAST staff network (AWE) and People Services directorate team.
4. Equality Delivery System 22
Report for the period April 2021 – February 2023 has been submitted to NHS England’s EDS team as well as the Integrated Care Board (ICB) Suffolk and North East Essex ICB and Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB.
5. EDS22 stakeholder consultations
EDS22 community/stakeholder consultations are planned with a wide range or groups and will take place in June/July 2023 to grade the domains and objectives with the Equality Delivery System. Evidence will be presented to stakeholders, and they will be able to score the Trust against the objectives as underdeveloped, developing, achieving. Any areas that are underdeveloped or require improvement will be supported by an action plan.
A number of consultations from January to February 2023 were cancelled due to the national NHS ambulance strikes, which indirectly affected staff, patients and stakeholders. Work had to be priortised to address business continuity.
The Trust has continued to engage with service users through the patient engagement team via regular surveys and talks within the Trust's geographical areas.
6. Anti-Racism Charter
In March 2022, EEAST became one of the first NHS ambulance trusts to sign the UNISON’s Anti-Racism Charter which aims to help tackle racism in the public sector. This charter is supported by the Trust’s EDI Inclusivity Plan. This is supported by several equality standards and initiatives within the Trust e.g., WRES, Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU), BME network, EDS22, a range of staff surveys and reports. The anti racism charter reports into the EDI Group that meets quarterly to oversee the progress of the EDI work within the organisation.
7. Inclusive recruitment
From the statistical information collected on employees the Trust is aware that there is an under-representation of minority ethnic staff. As a result, a project group was created and mandated to review and provide recommendations on measures to increase the number of minority ethnic (ME) staff recruited and proposed initiatives to aid in the retention of ME staff.
After further discussions and reviews within the task and finishing group, it was decided that this would expand to the development and engagement with all communities, especially those that identify with any of the nine protected characteristics.
Part of the main functions of the inclusive recruitment and retention task and finish group was to:
- Plan and deliver a strategy to achieve an increase in the number of minority ethnic staff members within the Trust.
- Develop a strategy to achieve an increase in the number of staff who declare a disability within the Trust.
- Ensure linkage to the wider Trust’s recruitment and retention strategy.
In November 2021, NHS Employers published ‘Attracting, supporting, and retaining a diverse NHS workforce’ which informed us that:
- More than one in eight NHS staff (13%) reported experiencing discrimination at work in 2020
- 11% of ambulance staff feel discriminated against.
EEAST’s People Committee in August 2022 approved a draft strategic minority ethnic plan (now called Inclusivity Plan).
Linked to NHS England » Equality Delivery System 2022, the inclusion project would be undertaken via the following interventions:
- Identify diverse grass roots groups and organisations in each of our six Integrated Care Systems (ICS)
- Hold engagement workshops in each ICS area, so we can hear from underrepresented groups about the barriers that they face in accessing EEAST (from a recruitment perspective and accessing EEAST generally)
- Create short films to support job applications and interviews at EEAST targeting underrepresented groups
- Develop diverse materials and resources to use at our recruitment fairs and engagement activities
- A positive recruitment of an ethnic minority engagement officer linked to the inclusive recruitment project and the BME survey is planned for the next financial year
- Promote community engagement via films, podcasts, photographs, and mixed media.
8. EEAST’s workforce statistics 2022/2023
8.1 Age
EEAST encourages applications from all age groups.
EEAST age demographics
| Age | From 1st April 2021 to 31st March 2022 | From 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Less than 21 | 1% | 0.9% | 0.1% |
| 21-30 | 26.6% | 27.3% | 0.7% |
| 31-40 | 23.5% | 23.9% | 0.4% |
| 41-50 | 23.6% | 22.2% | 1.4% |
| 51-60 | 20.3% | 20.5% | 0.2% |
| 61-70 | 4.8% | 5.1% | 0.3% |
| 71 and over | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
- From 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022, employees aged 21 years or younger made up 1.0% of EEAST’s workforce. From 1 April 2022 – to 31 March 2023 this dropped slightly by 0.1% to 0.9%.
- During 1 April 2021 - 31 March 2022 the largest age group of employees was 21–30-year-olds
- From 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 this increased to 27.3%.
- Between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022, 23.5% of the EEAST workforce was between the ages of 31-40 years of age. From 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023, this increased by 0.4% to 23.9%.
- Between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2021 41–50-year-olds accounted for 23.6% of the EEAST workforce. From 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023, this decreased by 1.4% to 22.2%.
- Between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2021 51–60-year-olds accounted for 20.3% of the EEAST workforce. From 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023, this increased by 0.2% to 20.5%.
- Between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2021 61–70-year-olds accounted for 4.8% of the EEAST workforce. From 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023, this increased by 0.3% to 5.1%
- EEAST’s smallest age group bracket is employees aged 71 years and over. Between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2021 employees of 71 years or older accounted for 0.2% of the EEAST workforce. From 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023, this decreased by 0.1% to 0.1%.
8.2 Gender
East England Ambulance Service NHS Trust has a workforce of over 6,000 employees.
From 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022, the workforce was made up of 51% female to 49% Male. From 1 April 2022 – to 31 March 2023, EEAST workforce was made up of 52.8 % female to 47.2% Male, an 1.8% increase of female staff.
8.3 Ethnicity breakdown
White British employees: During 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022 stood at 78.1%. During 1 April 2022 to 31 2023 there was an increase of 0.8% bringing the to 78.9%.
White Minority Ethnic employees 2022/2023: This saw an increase of 0.1% making total number of 5.6% employees.
Minority Ethnic employees at 31 March 2022 were 2.9%. Figures closed at 3.3% with an increase of 0.4% to the previous year.
Employees who have not stated their ethnicity during 2022 were recorded as 13.4%. There was an increase in reporting during 2023 by 1.2% of employee declaration on Electronic Staff Record (ESR).
8.4 Ethnicity demographics
| Ethnicity | 2022 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| White - British | 77.80% | 78.50% | Up 0.7% |
| White - Irish | 0.70% | 0.80% | Up 0.1% |
| White - Any other White background | 3.90% | 3.60% | Down 0.3% |
| Mixed - White and Black Caribbean | 0.40% | 0.40% | No change |
| Mixed - White and Black African | 0.10% | 0.10% | No change |
| Mixed - White and Asian | 0.50% | 0.50% | No change |
| Mixed - Any other mixed background | 0.30% | 0.30% | No change |
| Asian or Asian British - Indian | 0.60% | 0.70% | Down 0.1% |
| Asian or Asian British - Pakistani | 0.30% | 0.30% | No change |
| Asian or Asian British - Bangladeshi | 0.10% | 0.20% | Up 0.1% |
| Asian or Asian British - Any other Asian background | 0.30% | 0.30% | No change |
| Black or Black British - Caribbean | 0.40% | 0.40% | No change |
| Black or Black British - African | 0.20% | 0.30% | Up 0.1% |
| Black or Black British - Any other Black background | 0.20% | 0.20% | No change |
| Chinese | 0.10% | 0.10% | No change |
| Any Other Ethnic Group | 0.20% | 0.30% | Up 0.1% |
| Not Stated | 13.80% | 13% | Down 0.8% |
8.5 Sexual orientation
| Sexual orientation | 2022 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bisexual | 1.5% | 1.8% | Up 0.3% |
| Gay and lesbian | 3.4% | 3.7% | Up 0.3% |
| Heterosexual or straight | 63.6% | 66.5% | Up 2.9% |
| Other | 0.0% | 0.1% | Up 0.1% |
| Not stated | 31.5% | 27.8% | Down 3.7% |
During 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2023 employee declaration of sexuality increased by 3.5%
8.6 Disability
| 2022 | 2023 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Staff with a disability | 4.10% | 5.70% | 1.60% |
| Staff with NO disability | 62% | 64.20% | 2.20% |
| Not declared | 33.90% | 30.20% | 3.70% |
- During 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 staff reporting a disability increased by 1.6%.
- Employees declaring that they do not have a disability also increased by 2.2%.
- Not declared category has decreased by 3.7% due to more staff willing to share their disability. The EDI teams efforts around encouraging employees to update their data on ESR has had a positive impact.
8.7 Religion
The information below shows the number of religions represented within the Trust.
| Religion | 2022 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atheism | 19% | 21.2% | 2.2% |
| Buddhism | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.1% |
| Christianity | 30.7% | 30.9% | 0.2% |
| Hinduism | 0.3% | 0.3% | No Change |
| Islam | 0.7% | 0.8% | 0.1% |
| Jainism | 0.0% | 0.0% | No Change |
| Judaism | 0.2% | 0.2% | No Change |
| Sikhism | 0.1% | 0.1% | No Change |
| Other | 8.4% | 8.9% | 0.5% |
| Do not wish to disclose | 40.3% | 37.3% | 3.0% |
The category ‘Do not wish to disclose’ decreased by 3% due to more staff willing to share their religion/belief. The EDI teams efforts around encouraging employees to update their data on ESR has had a positive impact.
8.8 Marital status
| Marital Status | 2022 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Civil Partnership | 0.6% | 0.9% | 0.3% |
| Divorced | 5.5% | 5.5% | No Change |
| Legally Separated | 1.4% | 1.3% | 0.1% |
| Married | 38.2% | 37.3% | 0.9% |
| Single | 46.8% | 47.2% | 0.4% |
| Widowed | 0.3% | 0.3% | No Change |
| Unknown | 7.2% | 7.5% | 0.3% |
During 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 declaration on marital status increased by 0.3%.
9. Sources and information
The information is collated from ESR by the analytical team. The statistical data for the nine protected characteristics are then monitored monthly by the strategy, culture and education department and form part of the report to the Board. This informs the EDI Inclusivity Plan to help shape the work and future action plans.
Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Team
Strategy, Culture and Education
