Equality and Diversity

Woman

NHS Sheffield believes in fairness, equity and above all values diversity in all aspects of its work, as commissioner and provider of health services and as employers of people.

We are committed to eliminating discrimination on the basis of gender, age, disability, race, religion, sexuality or social class. We aim to commission and provide accessible services, delivered in a way that respects the needs of each individual and does not exclude anyone.

NHS Sheffield also aims to ensure that it employs and develops a healthcare workforce that is diverse, non discriminatory and appropriate to deliver modern healthcare.

NHS Sheffield intends to embed its equality and diversity values into every day practice, policies and procedures so that equality and diversity becomes the norm for all.

Equality is not about treating everyone the same, it is about ensuring that access to opportunities are available to all by taking account of people’ s differing needs and capabilities.

Diversity is about recognising and valuing differences through inclusion, regardless of age, disability, gender, racial origin, religion, belief, sexual orientation, commitments outside work, part-time or shift work, language, union activity, HIV status, perspectives, opinions and person values etc.

NHS Sheffield is committed to the Equality and Diversity of the population of Sheffield. At the 'Leading Action on Race Equality in Health' summit in London on 19th October 2009, NHS Sheffield made the following pledge:

"Over the next 6 months NHS Sheffield will champion a programme of 'patient stories' from BME patients / groups to share with commissioning staff their experiences of being a patient or user of a social health care service to ensure that specific needs of BME (Black & Minority Ethnic) patients and communities are highlighted."

Jan Sobieraj, NHS Sheffield Chief Executive (Oct 2009)

Patient stories:

Making cancer voices heard - Debjani Chatterjee

Please bear with us, we are rebuilding our Equality and Diversity pages, starting with the Single Equality Scheme page, to update them with information about the new Equality Act. Our Single Equality Scheme is meanwhile available by request and an updated version will be on our website in January.