Equality and Diversity

The Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) is an NHS initiative that helps organisations measure and improve the experiences of staff from Black, Asian and other ethnic minority backgrounds. It uses a set of indicators to assess areas such as recruitment, career progression, disciplinary processes, discrimination, bullying and harassment, and staff experience. By reviewing this data each year, NHS organisations can identify inequalities, take action to address them, and ensure all staff have fair opportunities and are treated with dignity, respect and inclusion.

The 2026 WRES Report can be viewed here.

The Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) helps NHS organisations understand whether disabled staff have equal opportunities and experiences at work compared with non-disabled staff. It provides a framework for measuring issues such as access to career development, workplace adjustments, inclusion, and experiences of discrimination or harassment. The information gathered helps organisations identify where improvements are needed and take practical action to create a workplace where disabled colleagues feel valued, supported, and able to contribute fully.

Our 2026 WDES report can be viewed here.

Modern slavery is the recruitment, movement, harbouring or receiving of children, women or men through the use of force, coercion; abuse of vulnerability, deception or other means for the purpose of exploitation.  We are committed to delivering high standards of corporate governance and a key element of this is managing the Trust is a socially responsible way.  We are committed to preventing slavery and human trafficking in our corporate activities and through our supply chains and we expect the same high standards from those parties with whom we engage. Read our Modern Slavery Statement below:

Anti-Slavery Statement

This statement, made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, sets out the approach taken by University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust to understand all potential modern slavery risks related to its business, and the actions undertaken to mitigate any such risks.

Our Board is committed to delivering high standards of corporate governance and a key element of this is managing the Trust in a socially responsible way. We are committed to preventing slavery and human trafficking in our corporate activities and through our supply chains and we expect the same high standards from those parties with whom we engage.  During the course of the year, we have emphasised our commitment through a number of mechanisms:

Recruitment and Selection

Our policies and procedures in relation to recruitment and selection of staff ensure that we comply with all employment, equalities and human rights legislation.  This includes the prevention of slavery and human trafficking.

Safeguarding Arrangements

Modern Slavery was identified as a separate category of abuse in the Care Act 2014 and as such sits within our safeguarding agenda for adults who have care and support needs.  Our policy and procedures in relation to safeguarding refer to Modern Slavery including Human Trafficking and identifies possible indicators for staff to lookout for and sets out the procedure of how to raise safeguarding concerns.

We deliver mandatory safeguarding awareness training to all staff which includes identifying Modern Slavery as a category of abuse. In addition to this we provide an enhanced level of safeguarding training to all of our qualified clinical staff which discusses in more depth the categories of abuse including Modern Slavery.

Supply Chain

Our Supply Chain is made up of a number of large multi-national companies, Small to Medium Enterprises (SME’s) and small local suppliers.  The location of supplier premises and manufacture locations are spread globally but the vast majority are situated in the European Union, where it is estimated that several hundred thousand people work for the aforementioned suppliers although not all these people work on UHNM related goods and services.

We have ensured that Anti-Slavery related provision is contained in both our Standard Terms and Conditions of Purchase which are issued with every Purchase Order and all tender documentation issued by the Trust.

Due to the nature of our business and our approach to governance and risk management, we assess that there is low risk of slavery and human trafficking in our business and supply chains. However we will continue to periodically review the effectiveness of our relevant policies, procedures and associated training to ensure that the risk remains low.

We do not have key performance indicators in relation to slavery or human trafficking as any instance would be expected to be a breach of law, our supplier standards and/or our local policies and therefore acted upon accordingly.

If you have any queries, please email the Workforce Information team on ESR.SupportUHNS@uhns.nhs.uk

The Trust is committed to promoting Equality and Diversity and one of the ways we achieve this is through a programme of training workshops for staff. The overall aim of these workshops is to raise awareness of Equality and Diversity and how this impacts on service delivery. The sessions highlight the importance and relevance of Equality and Diversity in today's NHS.

These half day workshops are for all staff and are designed to enable the participants to utilise tools to explore and develop their roles. They are able to recognise a variety of Equality and Diversity issues and implement pertinent strategies for effective working practice in line with the Trust's Equality and Diversity action plan. The workshops cover key elements such as responsibilities as a role model, Equality and Diversity responsibilities as a manager and employee in addition to legislation and policy. 

Equality and Diversity training is also available as an e-learning package which can be completed by staff from any computer in the Trust. Equality and Diversity will form part of common core content for all clinical and non-clinical foundation degrees developed in partnership with local universities and the Trust. Equality and Diversity will continue to be highlighted at corporate induction with signposting to the E-Learning programme and the workshops.

Useful information​

- Human rights in healthcare document

​NHS Rainbow Badge Scheme

Have you spotted our NHS Rainbow Badges?

You may have spotted staff with NHS rainbow badges pinned to their clothing and lanyards. The badges are just one way to show that UHNM is an open and non-judgemental and inclusive place for people that identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, with the + meaning inclusivity of all identities, regardless of how people define themselves.

If you see someone wearing a badge, they have made an informed choice to do so, so please ask them about it. The badge is a reminder that you can talk to our staff about who you are, be open about your identity and how you feel. You can be sure they are a friendly ear, willing to listen without judgement and will do their best to get support for you if you need it. Please don't be afraid to talk to them.

About the Rainbow Badge initiative?

NHS Rainbow Badges are a nationwide initiative that originated at the Evelina children's hospital, part of Guy's and Thomas's in London. LGBT+ stands for lesbian, gay bisexual, transgender, with the + meaning inclusivity of all identities, regardless of how people define themselves.

Statistics from the LGBT rights charity Stonewall claim one in four patients had witnessed negative remarks about LGBT people from healthcare staff while accessing services. One in seven LGBT people said they have avoided treatment altogether for fear of discrimination.

To increase the awareness of these issues and to help improve the experiences of healthcare for LGBT+ patients, our staff wear NHS Rainbow Badges.

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Under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), public bodies, including NHS organisations, are required to publish equality information at least annually to demonstrate how they are meeting their duty to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between people with different protected characteristics. Our annual Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) report helps us to evidence progress, monitor workforce and service-user data, report on equality objectives, identify areas of inequality, and outline actions being taken to improve outcomes. Publishing this information promotes transparency, accountability, and public confidence that the organisation is actively addressing equality issues and meeting its legal obligations.

Equality and Diversity Annual Report 2025-2026

Our Anti-Racist Statement

• We are committed to becoming an actively anti-racist organisation and we stand firmly against racism of any form. We will work actively to identify and eradicate any discriminatory practices in our organisation and to create an inclusive environment where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. 
• Race equity is core to our People Strategy, Trust Values, and our ambition of being a ‘Great Place to Work for everyone’.
• We acknowledge that racism exists, that it happens in our organisation as it does in wider society and that it affects our colleagues, patients and service users. This is not acceptable. We take a zero tolerance approach to racism.
• Zero tolerance means that we consider all manifestations of racism unacceptable and will take any concerns of racism seriously. We support all who work in or use our services to challenge racism by speaking up, for example against overt offensive behaviours, micro-aggressions, and harmful banter.
• We will ensure that any colleague that experiences racism from any source has access to support. This may be from their line manager or a Freedom to Speak Up Guardian who will take appropriate action to ensure your safety and wellbeing. Additional support is available from our Ethnic Diversity Staff Network.
• We empower our colleagues to give feedback to one another to enable learning and improvement. Where action is necessary using our resolution policy we will provide objective support in line with our just and restorative process.
• Safety of our workforce is paramount, and we will not tolerate racist and abusive language or discriminatory behaviours from our patients, service users or members of the public and we will utilise our formal violence prevention processes when needed, which can include the decision to refuse treatment.
• We will seek assurances from our partner organisations of their commitment to eliminating racism.
• We recognise that we have made good progress in tackling race inequalities, but that there remains much more to do to address discrimination, as an organisation and as individuals to actively challenge the policies, practices, behaviours, and beliefs that perpetuate racism.

LGBTQ+ Inclusion framework