Equalities in Health

Staff Guidance & Policies

We have a range of guidance and policies which support diversity in the workforce. These include:

• Equality and Diversity Management Guidance
• Adoption and Fostering Policy
• Policy on Breastfeeding
• Flexible Working Policy
• Gender Based Violence Policy
• Maternity Leave Policy
• Parental Leave Policy
• Reduced Working Year Policy
• Special Leave Policy
• Equal Pay Statement

Support for Staff with Money Worries

In the current economic climate, many staff are experiencing money and debt problems, which can increase personal stress. NHSGGC has a number of resources to support staff.

Our All About Money page is specifically for staff and offers a wide range of help, practical support and advice.

Staff Forums

For more information on our staff forums visit our HR Connect page.

Staff Disability Forum

The Staff Disability Forum is the longest established staff forum. It aims to make positive changes in the organisation and provide a support network for disabled staff. For further information go to our HR Connect page.

LGBTQ+ Staff Forum

For NHSGGC staff members who want to contribute to creating a more LGBTQ+ inclusive workplace, there is a LGBTQ+ forum available via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/nhsggclgbtforum/ This is private group, which you will need to request to join.


For more information about the group, contact equality@ggc.scot.nhs.uk

Black & Minority Ethnic Staff Forum

This group has been formed as a result of discussions held with Black & Minority Ethnic staff about their experience of working in NHSGGC. Issues raised by staff included stereotyping, discrimination and organisational culture, as well as the impact of negative media reporting and the anti-immigration climate. In addition to providing a support network for Black & Minority Ethnic staff, the Forum is supported by members of the Workforce Equalities Group to make positive changes within the organisation.
For further information, contact Nuzhat Mirza at the Equality & Human Rights Team.

Martin is a Deaf man whose first language is British Sign Language. A smoker for many years, Martin finally decided to take the plunge and quit. After looking at the various options available to help him, he decided that he would like the support of a group. On enquiring, however, Martin was told that he could not attend a smoking cessation group because there was no budget for an interpreter.

This is a real example of discrimination which happened in NHSGGC. It was our responsibility to ensure Martin could use this service. To meet our patient commitment, and by law, a BSL interpreter should have been made available.

This section provides real examples of how people have been affected by discrimination within NHSGGC. It highlights the training and resources available to staff to help us treat people fairly. It also looks at what’s being done to ensure a working environment for staff which is free from harassment or discrimination of any nature.

What is Discrimination?

We discriminate when we treat people as if they are all the same even when they have different needs. We also discriminate if we treat people differently in a negative way based on their gender, age, social class, sexual orientation, race, faith & belief or disability.

Every one of us has to be aware of and tackle discrimination. Not only should we want to ensure that patients get the services they need, we should be aware that by law we must not discriminate either against patients or staff members.

People’s Experiences

What is the Health Hap?

We can see differences in people’s health across NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and there is a widening gap in health between the richest and poorest. Men in the least deprived areas can expect to live 13-14 years longer than those in the most deprived areas of the city. The gap for women is 8-9 years.

Social class is a major cause of these differences in health, or ‘health inequality’. Discrimination because of someone’s sex, race, disability, age and sexual orientation, combined with a person’s social class can have a harmful effect on health. People also experience a decrease in health as their social position decreases. This is called the health gradient.

What can the NHS do to tackle the Health Gap?

NHSGGC has an important role to play in reducing health inequalities by the way that it provides its services and gives out its resources. The NHS has worked in communities with the worst health and helped people find ways to become healthier. However, this has not affected the size of the health gap because more wealthy communities have been improving their health as quickly, or more quickly than poorer communities.

Those who need health care the most often have the least access to it (sometimes called the ‘Inverse Care Law’).In Glasgow, GP practices are evenly spread throughout the city – which does not reflect the distribution of poor health. Also, the way health care is organised favours people who:

• have knowledge of the health care system and the confidence and assertiveness to use it;
• can communicate and can be communicated with at several levels i.e. have spoken English as their first language, who can read and who have no sensory impairments such as blindness;
• can travel easily to hospitals, health centres etc or for whom there are no physical barriers (such as difficulties walking); and
   
  have health problems which are largely unrelated to their life circumstances or discrimination 

NHSGGC’s work on inequalities is designed to deal with these issues and find ways of sharing resources in a fairer manner. It also works with its partners to improve the underlying causes of differences in health, such as education, employment, housing, transport and other public services.

Useful resources

Linked pages 

Addressing Income Inequality, Poverty & Social Issues

Welfare Reform

Poverty & Human Rights

Other Useful Links

World Health Organisation Commission on Social Determinants of Health

Scottish Public Health Observatory-Health Inequalities

Scottish Child Payment is now open for applications

Scottish Child Payment is a new payment for families on tax credits or certain benefits to help towards the costs of looking after a child. It is £40 paid every four weeks for each child under six.

The payment starts on Monday 15 February 2021, with first payments made from the end of February onwards, but Social Security Scotland is taking applications now to help manage demand.

You can apply if your child will be under six on 15 February 2021.

The qualifying benefits are:

* Child Tax Credit
* Income Support
* Pension Credit
* Working Tax Credit
* Universal Credit
* Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
* Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

Social Security Scotland will ask for evidence that the person applying is responsible for a child under six, usually through the child being named on a benefit claim form.
If more than one person applies for the same child, there’s a process for deciding who gets the payment – prioritising the person who the child lives with most of the time.

Scottish Child Payment will not be taken into account for UK benefit and tax credit assessments and there is no cap on the amount of children this payment can support.

First payments will be made from late February onwards. When someone gets paid will depend on how many applications we get and the process each individual application goes through.
If someone applied before Monday 15 February 2021, this will be the date that their
payment will be calculated from. If they apply after this date, it will be calculated from the date that they applied.

Payments will be made every four weeks following the first payment.

Find out more information and apply at mygov.scot/scottish-child-payment or call Social Security Scotland on 0800 182 2222.

PIP is a new benefit for people aged 16-64 who have a disability, physical impairment or mental health condition.

It will replace Disability Living Allowance (DLA) but more people will qualify for PIP than DLA.

PIP aims to support people that are experiencing difficulties with daily activities and mobility that are likely to last for 12 months or more.

We want to ensure that patients who have problems with daily living, such as eating or preparing food, taking medication, moving around or managing money, are aware of this benefit and how to claim it.

Posters and leaflets promoting PIP have been produced by NHSGGC and are being distributed throughout our services.

Get In Touch for more information.

NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde have put in place a range of initiatives on money worries and employment which can make a substantial difference to vulnerable patients and families. For more information click here.

The COVID-19 pandemic, Brexit, welfare reform, austerity and the recession have created extreme poverty in Scotland and the UK. The Scottish Social Renewal Advisory Board and the Marmot Build Back Fairer reports argue for radical action to tackle the long term humanitarian crisis.

People’s human rights to food, fuel, income and shelter are often breached in the humanitarian crisis that has arisen. Poverty, child poverty, stress and social isolation with the long term associated impacts on mental and physical health are public health emergencies. This is due to low economic growth rising unemployment levels; stagnant wages; social security cuts; higher food and fuel prices.

Over 50% of people living in poverty are in work and often claim benefits such a working tax credits. However, often people are unaware of what is their right to social security with around £20 billion unclaimed in the UK every year. In 2020, the Scottish Human Rights Commission developed this short film clip about right to Scotland’s devolved social security powers.

Even before the pandemic, the UN rapporteur on human rights had two visits to Scotland – one on extreme poverty and one on the right to food. The reports cited the UK governments economic and welfare reform policies as a key factor in why these are live public health emergency issues in Scotland (see Human Rights page).

NHSGGC Public Health Strategy post pandemic firmly sets out to tackle poverty, child poverty and mental wellbeing with NHSGGC a partner in the legally required Local Child Poverty Action Plans.

Useful Resources

Addressing Income Inequality and Social Issues

Person centred care is at the heart of the National Quality Strategy and aims to deliver effective, safe, non-discriminatory and efficient health and social care. 

Being sensitive to inequalities and human rights within person-centred care means working in a way which responds to the life circumstances that affect people’s health. Evidence shows that if these issues are not taken into account by the health service, opportunities are missed to improve health and to reduce health inequalities.

Developing Person Centred Care that is Sensitive to Inequalities

NHSGGC has a number of programmes of work which aim to ensure that our services understand how to recognise and respond to the life circumstances that are affecting someone’s health.

For example, the Healthier Wealthier Children Project focuses on identifying and responding to the needs of people who have worries about money. While the Gender-based Violence Programme is developing the practice of sensitively asking service users about their experience of abuse.

Actions such as providing communication support, routinely asking about social issues such as money worries and stress and referring on as appropriate are key to delivering inequalities sensitive person centred care.

The current issues around Extreme Poverty and Destitution are likely to have a profound effect on NHSGGC patients. We are anticipating an increase in diseases relating to poverty and we can expect increased demand for mental health and primary care services and a negative impact on carers.

There are also a number of initiatives around workforce training and development.

NHSGGC wants to work in partnership with patients, learning from patients’ lived experiences.

We want to ensure that all voices are heard. The Equalities & Human Rights Team’s patient involvement activities therefore specifically engage with people with protected characteristics and other groups that experience discrimination.

People’s experience of inequalities and discrimination impact upon their health, how they engage with health services and manage their health problems. By engaging with communities and responding to feedback we can improve everyone’s experience of NHSGGC services. This work will also inform our equality outcomes and actions for the future.
The Equality and Human Rights Team also work closely with the Patient Experience Public Involvement Team to help reach and engage with all our communities.

Involving Patients and Members of the Public

We consult with a variety of patient groups depending on the area of work. For example –

Disability Access – our Disability Access Patient Group, help us investigate and audit the factors affecting disabled people’s access to our buildings and services

Learning Disability – we work in partnership with a number of organisations supporting people with a learning disability and are members of The Life I Want Health Group, a partnership forum made up of 3rd sector services.

Black and Minority Ethnic Communities – our engagement is constantly being developed and delivered with a range of 3rd sector organisations working with BME communities. This has informed our work to ensure communities have access to health information and that our services are delivered in ways which ensure access for all communities.

The Deaf Community – feedback is sought from the deaf community on a range of issues, including the BSL National Plan, our Interpreting services and access to NHSGGC services. The BSL Health Champions – volunteers from the Deaf BSL community – work with us to achieve this and group meetings are open to any Deaf BSL user who lives in the NHSGGC area. The group also has a Facebook page which is used to share information and to get feedback from the BSL community.

The role of Peer Workers

Peer workers are people who draw on their own experiences to help and support others in similar circumstances. Their lived experience enables them to connect in a meaningful way with those they are supporting.

The role of Engagement and Educational Peer Workers was introduced in NHSGGC in 2022. Our current work focuses on Immunisation, Screening, Poverty and aims to –

• Support the ongoing patient engagement within the vaccination programme; identify barriers to vaccine take-up and provide information on vaccines, poverty assistance and access to NHSGGC services.
  
• Maximise the contact with communities who find it hard to engage with NHSGGC’s routine patient involvement activities and support them to do so.

The Peer Workers run discussion sessions with their groups on issues relating to healthcare and people’s experience of using NHS services. They also provide information on the advice and support available to NHSGGC patients, particularly around help with financial hardship.

Useful Resources

• Accessible Engagement Events 2023
• Communication Guidance – Tip Cards