Launch of the EDS2: Guide to Engagement with the Local Voluntary Sector Last Friday, Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of NHS England, launched the Equality Delivery System 2: Guide to Engagement with the Local Voluntary Sector.
This guide was developed by a partnership led by the Race Equality Foundation, Disability Rights UK and others.
During the event Simon Stevens argued that the NHS has four parts to play: as a funder and provider of health services, as a large employer, as being embedded in the communities in which it operates, and as an advocate for change.
Within these four areas, he stated, equality should not be treated as an add-on but rather should be embedded within them.
For example, people from protected groups often receive their cancer diagnosis later. Of course they will get treated, but it proves more difficult to treat a person whose cancer has developed to a later stage and it is more costly.
Our own approach to making disability an asset in the NHS (and beyond) also fits this very well. Hence, embedding equalities in the NHS is not only an equalities case, but also a health and economics case.
Presentations of good practices were also given, including one by Harjinder Bahra, Equality and Human Rights Manager at Southwark CCG, He outlined the three lessons he had learned: interpret and adopt the guide locally, engage local people and the VCS, and take the opportunities the EDS2 gives - we would argue teams of lived experience are the most effective drivers to ensure traction.