Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

CPFT is committed to providing an environment Group of staff where all staff, service users and carers enjoy equality of opportunities. We understand the importance of being compliant with the various pieces of equality legislation. We acknowledge the benefits and contribution that managing equality and diversity makes to the achievement of our business objectives in the areas of employment, service planning and service delivery.

Promoting equality, embracing diversity and ensuring full inclusion for people who use our services is central to the vision and values of CPFT. Promoting equal opportunities, preventing discrimination and valuing diversity are fundamental to building strong communities and services.

CPFT is committed to:

  • Developing policies, processes, procedures, practices and behaviours that challenge all forms of discrimination and promotes equality of opportunity at all levels.
  • Creating an organisation that harnesses the different perspectives and skills of all staff and provides a working environment free from discrimination, harassment or victimisation.

In being able to meet its business objectives and duties, CPFT adopted the national Equality Delivery System (EDS) in 2011 to drive the equality agenda. NHS England » Equality Delivery System 2022. We continue to adopt EDS2, which was refreshed in November 2013. The purpose of the EDS2 is to ensure that services promote the independence and wellbeing of staff, service users and carers and help them to maximise their potential, offer them protection when they need it and support their rights and choices. Our EDS22 will be published here at the end of February 2024.

Further information and documents

Current publications:

 

Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 harmonised and replaced previous legislation (such as the Race Relations Act 1976 and Disability Discrimination Act 1995) with a single act. The act simplified the law, removed inconsistencies and strengthened the law to help tackle discrimination and inequality.

The act covers nine protected characteristics and the following are protected characteristics:

  1. Race
  2. Sex
  3. Disability
  4. Sexual orientation
  5. Religion and belief
  6. Age
  7. Pregnancy and maternity
  8. Gender reassignment
  9. Marriage and civil partnership

CPFT is committed to building a workforce that reflects the diverse community it serves, enabling it deliver quality mental health and community services. Everyone that works with CPFT or uses its services can expect to be treated with respect and dignity, and have their personal, cultural and spiritual needs taken into account. In this way CPFT is able to deliver quality care and services whilst giving the service users the opportunity to reach their full potential.

If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail edi@cpft.nhs.uk.

 

At CPFT our Equality Objectives are to:

  • Develop policies, processes, procedures, practices and behaviours that challenge all forms of discrimination and promotes equality of opportunity at all levels.
  • Create an organisation that harnesses the different perspectives and skills of all staff and provides a working environment free from discrimination, harassment or victimisation.
  • Continue to support our staff networks, promoting their value across the organisation.
  • Continue our journey of being an anti-racist organisation, developing a framework around this to support our staff and patients from any form of discrimination and racism.
  • Further develop and support our Cultural Ambassadors and integrate this role into our employee relations and recruitment processes to remove any potential bias in those processes.
  • Support our staff and patients with any issues they raise around the equality, diversity and inclusion agenda, including discrimination, racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, etc.
  • We will work closely with our CPFT internal teams such as FTSU, HR, L &OD to support our staff to raise any concerns as well as supporting our system colleagues, sharing best practice whenever we can.
  • Lead our Recovery and Peer Support Agenda, ensuring the voice of lived experience is integrated and further developed across the organisation.
  • Integrate best practice such as Reverse Mentoring, coaching and mentoring, talent management strategies, Compassion in Action and diverse interview panels etc.
  • Ensure the Trust Board and Non-Executive Directors have specific and measurable EDI objectives that links both to their appraisals and the NHS Improvement Plan.

 

Disability Confident

The Trust is signed up to the Disability Confident scheme which has three levels and is aimed at demonstrating that the Trust is committed to supporting staff with disabilities as an employer. The Trust is proud to hold Level 3 as a Disability Confident Leader.

 

Disability Confident Badge

Disability Confident Leader - Level 3 Certificate

As a patient

As a patient, relative or carer using our services, sometimes you may need to turn to someone for help, advice, and support. 

Patient Advice and Liaison service  Contact the Trust