Below is a summary of the key findings and next steps: 

Race 

  • The Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) workforce grew by 6% in 2020-21, slower than the 13% growth the year before. The gap between white people and BAME people being appointed shrank on the previous year.
  • In Agenda for Change (AfC) pay bands 8a-9 the proportion of BAME staff decreased for the first time in five years by 11% and in medical and dental staff decreased by 10%.
  • These findings will be addressed through improving retention during the employment lifecycle and a development programme for under-represented groups, in addition to further supporting members of recruitment panels to meet our model employer goals.
  • There is a five year increasing trend in BAME staff experiencing harassment, bullying or abuse from other colleagues in 2020, being addressed through a new zero-tolerance campaign towards racism with effective and visible action in response to racist incidents. 

Religion and belief

  • The proportion of staff (73%) sharing their beliefs grew by 27% over the past five years.

  • The staff survey score for Hindu staff safety (bullying and harassment) is 5.3 out of 10. The Trust average for all staff is 8.4 out of 10. This is the smallest belief group within SCFT.

  • 22.7% of Hindu staff report discrimination from patients or the public. The national average is 12% for Hindu staff. 

  • Further work will be undertaken to better understand the experiences of this group. 

Gender

  • The work force is 85% female and 15% male. The size of the male workforce grew by 43% or 254 more men, over the past five years. The size of the female workforce increased by 16% or 484 more women. 
  • 27% of females reported experiencing harassment, bullying or abuse from patients, relatives or members of the public compared to 17% of males. This will be addressed by a violence reduction project. 
  • Across the Trust as a whole, women earned £1.02 for every £1 men earned when comparing median hourly wages. Women's mean hourly wage was 6.7% lower than men's, a shrinking of three percentage points in that gap since 2020. The median pay gap is more typical of the gap between most men and women.

Sexual orientation

  • Three and a half percent of the workforce shared with us that they identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB). 
  • There has been 64% growth in people sharing this information over the past five years; or an additional 76 more individuals. 
  • LGB staff report that theTrust feels safer in terms of bullying and harassment and it feels more inclusive compared both to the community healthcare sector for LGB staff and to the national average for LGB staff. 

Disability

  • Six percent of the workforce shared they identify as disabled on their staff record. Non-disabled people were almost as likely (1.06 times) to be appointed from shortlisting as disabled people. 

  • Whilst over five years the disabled workforce grew by 69%, the equivalent of 128 more disabled people, over the past year it shrank by 13% or a loss of 47 people.

  • People sharing their disability are relatively under-represented in more senior roles.

  • Disabled staff on average reported equal opportunities in promotion and career progression four points lower than non-disabled people.

  • 83% of disabled staff felt the Trust made adequate adjustments at work, five points more than the previous year. 

  • These findings will be addressed by further support for managers to focus on staff health and wellbeing and by improving the completeness of disability data. 

Age

  • Of all the age groups, the 61+ years' group has grown the most over the past five years at 61%, or the equivalent of 231 more people. 

    Staff in the 41-55 years and the 51-65 years age groups scored the lowest safe environment scores for bullying and harassment of any age groups at 8.4 out of 10. 

  • These findings will be addressed by holding quarterly meetings for staff in the 50 years and over age band to explore support provided during menopause, options around flexible retirement and how to have conversations about wellbeing and flexible working within performance and development review. 

Patient care equity

  • Ethnicity data completeness on patient care record datasets varies between 68% (Emergency Care) to 95% (Time to Talk). 
  • There were 916 contacts received by the Patient Advice Liaison Service (PALS) in 2020-21. Two were coded as discrimination. 
  • There were 296 contacts received by PALS about appointments, not specific to any population group, and 180 of these concerned the access to appointments. 
  • These findings will be addressed by embedding approaches to population health management, patient involvement, partnership working and inclusive care within the Trust. 

Conclusion

  • We have taken our greatest efforts to date to advance equity, with further work required to remove cultural and social barriers to accessing care and to improve staff retention. Across 2021-22 we will take a number of further steps: 
  • Increase support for staff to begin to put inclusive care and engagement into practice by improving how patient histories and demographics are identified and recorded, measured through data quality metrics. 
  • Provide tools for staff to improve service accessibility and quality for those patient groups who are worse off, as measured through equity audit and impact assessment completion and review. 
  • Improve representation within senior management through recruitment and talent management, and improve retention for under-represented groups 
  • The end goal is thriving and culturally competent staff providing inclusive care to promote positive outcomes and to address health inequity. 

Request an alternative format

The Trust provide resources in alternative formats, including language translations, large print, braille, easy-read format or on audio tape. Please contact the Communications and Engagement Team at scftcommunications@nhs.net if you require this resource in another format.