Anti-Racism Strategy

SEL ICB has been taking forward important work on the development and delivery of a staff Anti-racism Strategy. The Strategy brings together all our commitments and activities to support race equality and is fully supported and approved by our ICB Board. Further discussions with our system partners are taking place about our collective action to become anti-racist organisations.

The Anti-racism Strategy forms one strand of on our ongoing work on equalities and development of our forthcoming Anti-discrimination strategy.

A celebration of our anti-racism work so far will be held soon for all staff.

Access the anti-racism strategy here.

Anti-Discrimination Strategy

SEL ICB is currently developing an Anti-discrimination strategy which will set out our commitment to tackle discrimination and harassment and promote and advance equality in areas such as recruitment, training and pay.

An anti-racism strategy has been developed as part of our overall approach to equalities.

Health and Care LGBTQ+ Inclusion Framework

The LGBTQ+ population in the UK experiences significant physical and mental health inequalities compared to the general population. These inequalities extend from increased risk factors for ill health and barriers to accessing healthcare and support, to discrimination against LGBTQ+ staff within the workplace.

SEL ICB will be implementing the Health and Care LGBTQ+ Inclusion Framework which has been endorsed by the Equalities Sub-Committee chaired by the Chief of Staff and Equalities Senior Responsible Officer. Implementation for this will begin imminently with some mapping work already undertaken by our LGBTQ+ staff network.

EDI Training and Development

SEL ICB has mandatory equalities training in place for all staff. In addition to this mandatory training, we have undertaken a number of other training interventions across a range of protected characteristics.

Freedom to Speak Up Guardians

SEL ICB is committed to supporting a culture of learning, openness and transparency throughout our organisation, so that staff feel empowered to speak up if they have any concerns about patient care in south east London.

The ICB has Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) guardians across the organisation and work with the appointed FTSU Guardian, who is an executive director on the Board. FTSU Guardians are drawn from diverse backgrounds and across different parts of the organisation, and act as an independent and impartial outlet for staff to raise issues or concerns confidentially. The themes gathered from the issues raised with the FTSU Guardians team will help the SEL ICB make improvements for our patients and staff.

Staff Networks and Champions

SEL ICB has made significant progress in implementing and developing our staff networks, who work on both action-focused topics related to their expertise, as well as HR policies, staff engagement, and health and wellbeing. The following staff networks have been established at the ICB:

• Embracing Race and Diversity
• LGBTQ+
• Age and Ability
• Women and Parent Leaders

Equalities in Recruitment Working Group

The Group is looking at what more we can do to ‘de-bias’ the recruitment process, supporting SEL ICB to take a creative, innovative approach to recruiting new staff and developing its current staff.

Listening to the lived experiences of our staff are a key aspect of the group and will support us to proactively identify and improve ICB processes and practices and share learning across the wider South East London Integrated Care System. Representation includes members of our Embracing Race and Diversity and LGBTQ+ staff networks.

Looking at recruitment, career development and talent management activities for the ICB also supports us to fulfil our commitments towards the NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES), NHS Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES), and Gender Pay Gap.