NHS Ayrshire & Arran is committed to providing an environment in which diversity is valued and encouraged, and to ensuring patients, carers, families and staff are treated with dignity and respect, no matter their protected characteristics.
We strive to provide the best care and treatment we can, within the resources available to us, while ensuring everyone working in the NHS has the right training and skills for their job within a safe and clean environment. This cannot be achieved if there is prejudice, discrimination, alienation, or social exclusion. Services need to be accessible, appropriate and sensitive to the needs of all service users.
No-one should be excluded or experience particular difficulty in accessing and effectively using our services due to their age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity, race/ethnicity, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.
As an Equal Opportunities employer we strive to have staff with the right skills to deliver equitable and quality services. We are committed to ensuring that our employees are not discriminated against and are appropriately supported in the workplace.
Equality Act 2010
The Equality Act 2010 became law on 1 October 2010 and replaced previous anti-discrimination laws with a single Act.
It simplified the law into a single source and ensures that everyone who is protected under law from discrimination, harassment or victimisation is afforded the same level of protection.
NHS Ayrshire & Arran, as a public body, are required to ensure that equality and diversity are embedded into all our functions and activities in line with the Equality Act 2010.
The content of the equality information and reports page reinforces NHS Ayrshire & Arran’s commitment to Equality and Diversity and outlines our:
- mainstreaming reports
- equality outcomes
- evidence base
- equal pay and gender pay audit
- proposed standard workforce equality metrics for NHS Scotland
- workforce occupational segregation and equal pay
Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA)
Like all public sector organisations, NHS Ayrshire & Arran is required to assess the impact of all its policies, services and functions on equality.
This means that we must:
- try to predict what will happen to different groups of people affected by our work
- make changes to our plans so that any possibility of a negative impact is reduced or eliminated
To do this, we use a procedure called Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA). View a list of our completed Equality Impact Assessments.
Equality and Diversity and Human Rights Policy
View the NHS Ayrshire & Arran Equality and Diversity and Human Rights Policy for details of how we support equal opportunities in
employment.
British Sign Language (BSL)
Our British Sign Language (BSL) section includes:
- the latest Ayrshire Shared British Sign Language Local Plan, in BSL and English
- a series of videos covering a range of healthcare topics
Following the launch of the Scottish Government National BSL Plan in October 2017, public bodies were requited to develop and publish local plans in line with the National Plan.
The Ayrshire Shared BSL Plan 2018-2024 is designed to support the whole of Ayrshire. To develop the plan, NHS Ayrshire & Arran worked in partnership with
- the three Ayrshire Local Authorities
- the three Health and Social Care Partnerships
- Ayrshire College
Access Support Cards
Do you find it difficult to hear your name being called in a busy waiting room, or feel you need extra time, or a helping hand to get to the consulting room for you appointment?
NHS Ayrshire & Arran has designed an Access Support Card for people who may need some help or support when accessing services. The card was developed in partnership with community groups and feedback from our partners.
If you have a disability (this can be hidden or visible), have mobility issues, area Deaf, Deafblind, Blind, have poor eyesight or hearing we would encourage you to carry a card to show staff when accessing public services. Please show your card to staff when you arrive so that they can make the necessary arrangements to make sure you are supported appropriately during your attendance.
There is also an ‘In Case of an Emergency’ section should we need to contact someone for you. Please put your preferred contact on the back of the card.
It is the same size as a bank / credit card and fits easily into a wallet, purse or bus pass holder. It has a cut off (rounded) corner for easy use by people with a visual impairment.
LGBT Health and Wellbeing
- Introduction to Scottish Health Needs Assessment
- Loneliness and Isolation for LGBT+ people
- Mental Health for LGBT+ people
This area of the NHS Ayrshire & Arran public website outlines our commitment to meeting the duties cover by equalities legislation and sets out our focus for the coming years. If you need any of the documents on this site in another format, please contact:
Elaine Savory
Equality and Diversity Adviser
Telephone: 01563 826438
Email: elaine.savory@aapct.scot.nhs.uk
Equally Safe at Work
Equally Safe recognises that employers have a key role to play because violence against women is an employment issue whether it occurs inside or outside of the workplace. NHS Ayrshire & Arran is one of four NHS Boards in Scotland who have signed up to the Equally Safe at Work accreditation programme in partnership with Close the Gap. The programme will highlight our continued commitment to gender equality and will help us support victim-survivors of violence against women.
Violence against women affects all areas of women’s lives, and the workplace is no exception. Every year, three million women in the UK experience some form of violence against women and many more live with past experiences of abuse.
NHS Ayrshire & Arran has a vital role to play in advancing gender equality and challenging violence against women. We will develop policies and practices that are sensitive to the needs of victim-survivors, take action to prevent violence against women at work, and take account of women’s different experiences in all aspects of the workplace.
We have published a public statement signed by the Chair of the Board and Chief Executive in support of Equally Safe at Work.
Equally Safe at Work accreditation
NHS Ayrshire & Arran was one of the first health boards to achieve the Equally Safe at Work accreditation.
This was attained in October 2023 through Close the Gap, an organisation working with policy makers and employers to address the causes of women’s inequality in the workplace.
Equality and Diversity Adviser Elaine Savory has highlighted NHS Ayrshire & Arran’s experience with Equally Safe at Work in a video with Close the Gap, which can be found below.