Equality and diversity

NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly is committed to promoting equality in access to services, health outcomes and in employment. We aim to ensure that equality and diversity is at the centre of our work. It is also integral to all our functions and policies.

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Our people

Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has a diverse population. Recognising and embracing our diversity helps us to better understand our population’s needs. Data helps us with this.

The census 2021 data tells us the following.

• We have a growing population and an ageing population. Between the last 2 censuses, the average, or median, age of Cornwall increased by 2 years. It increased from 45 to 47 years of age. We have a higher average age than the south west region and England.
• We have a higher-than-average number of people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or other, when compared to other rural areas.
• In 2021, 8.1% of Cornwall residents identified as disabled and limited a lot in their daily lives. This is higher than the averages for the south west region and for England.

The joint strategic needs assessment helps us to identify and review changes in:

• local health and wellbeing needs
• inequalities of the local population

This helps inform service planning across the public sector.

By recognising the needs of the diverse communities we serve, we continue to promote equality in access to services, health outcomes, and in employment.

Equal opportunities employer

We believe in a workplace which is truly equal. It is our belief that people perform better when they can be themselves. We strive to make this a fair and equal workplace for all. A more diverse workforce makes better decisions. Happier employees mean better outcomes for patients.

Through monitoring data, we strive to know whether NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly is:

• recruiting employees who may be disadvantaged or under-represented
• broadly representative of our local population
• promoting people fairly
• paying men and women equally
• making progress towards our equality aims

Disability Confident employer

Disability Confident is a scheme to help organisations recruit and retain people with a disability and those with health conditions.

By being disability confident, we aim to:

• help people fulfil their potential
• recruit and retain people with skills and talent
• help to positively change attitudes, behaviours, and culture

Disability Confident helps businesses:

• challenge attitudes towards disability
• increase understanding of disability
• improve employee morale and commitment
• remove barriers for people with a disability
• help people to fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations
• draw from the widest possible pool of talent
• save time and money on the costs of recruitment and training
• keep valuable skills and experience
• reduce the levels and costs of sickness absences
• reduce employee turnover

NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly has signed up to the commitments of the scheme, which are:

• inclusive and accessible recruitment
• communicating vacancies
• offering an interview to people with a disability
• providing reasonable adjustments
• supporting existing employees

Mindful Employer

NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly have signed up to the Mindful Employer initiative. This is a long-term pledge. With the right support, people with mental health issues can, and do, stay in work and can be a real asset to our business.

The charter for employers who are positive about mental health is a voluntary agreement.

We have made an ongoing commitment to:

• supply non-judgemental and pro-active support to colleagues who experience mental ill health
• show a positive and enabling attitude to all colleagues and job applicants with a mental health condition
• ensure all line managers have access to information and training about managing mental health in the workplace
• ensure that people involved in recruitment are briefed on mental health conditions and the Equality Act 2010
• be clear in any recruitment or occupational health check that people who have experienced mental ill health will not be discriminated against
• make it clear that the disclosure of a mental health problem will help to ensure the right level of support or adjustment

Staff networks and staff groups

NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly is committed to inclusion. Together with our partners at Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, we offer a number of staff networks and staff support groups.

The networks and groups include the following and more.

• Allies network
• Armed forces network
• Autism support group
• Carers network
• Diabetes support group
• Ethnic minorities network
• Gender equality network
• LGBTQ+ employee network
• Long term conditions and disabilities network
• Menopause support group

We continue to work on inclusive approaches to support our colleagues.

Gender pay gap

All employers with 250 or more staff must publish gender pay gap figures on an annual basis.

The figures set out the average pay gap between men and women as a:

• mean, or average hourly basis
• median, or hourly pay average of the person in the middle

Read our gender pay gap report and action plan 2025 (PDF, 248 KB)

NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board is committed to fostering an inclusive and equitable workplace.  

In an organisation of our size, changes to personnel in a few posts can impact on our gender pay gap. We are committed to reviewing and evaluating career progression and recruitment within the organisation so that we can attract more women into senior leadership roles. We have developed inclusive recruitment guides for managers and are taking steps to improve workplace flexibility and availability of part time roles for men and women and implementing measures to ensure fairness.

Transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement will guide us as we work to close the gender pay gap and continue to build a workplace that values all employees equally.

Human rights

We are committed to ensuring all NHS services:

• respect human rights
• treat people fairly and equitably

We recognise the needs of the diverse communities we serve.

Read our human rights statement and guidance (PDF, 363 KB).

The statement:

• explains the law on human rights
• gives advice and guidance to people about the law on human rights
• explains what this means in a healthcare environment

Accessible Information Standard

What is the Accessible Information Standard?

The Accessible Information Standard is a set of requirements that makes sure people who have a disability, impairment, or sensory loss can:

• Get information in a format they can understand. For example, large print, braille, audio, email, or British Sign Language.
• Receive the communication support they need, such as an interpreter or speech-to-text support.

This applies to all NHS services and publicly funded adult social care services in England.

Why is this important?

Around 1 in 5 people in the UK has a disability. Making information accessible is not just good practice – it is the law. Accessible services help improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities. It ensures everyone can understand their care and make informed choices.

What does this mean for you?

• When you use NHS or social care services, staff should ask you about your communication needs.
• Your needs should be recorded and flagged in your records, so staff know how to support you.
• Services should share this information, with your consent, with other health and care providers involved in your care.
• You should get information in the right format and the support you need every time.
• Services must review your needs regularly, so if they change, your records are updated.

Your rights

You have the right to:

• Tell services how you want to receive information.
• Ask for communication support.
• Expect services to meet these needs.

Our local commitment

In Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, we are committed to making communication accessible for everyone. We work with the Cornwall Accessible Communications Group, which has developed an accessible communications symbol to show when information is available in different formats. We can supply the symbol in different formats. Email our engagement team if you would like to use the symbol.

Find out more

• Accessible Information Standard – NHS England
• Easy Read guide
• British Sign Language (BSL) video

If you need this information in another format, please email our engagement team or phone 01726 627800.

Accessibility Regulations 2018

The Accessibility Regulations aim to make online public services accessible to everyone. We have worked to make this website as accessible as possible for all visitors.Read more about our accessibility statement and options

Equality delivery system

The NHS Constitution requires NHS organisations to involve patients and the public in the decision-making process and to place the patient at the heart of all that it does. NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly wants to make sure that the NHS equality delivery system (EDS) principle of making sure that everyone counts is integral to our engagement and communication work. EDS helps NHS organisations improve the services they commission for their local communities. The EDS provides better working environments, free of discrimination, for those who work in the NHS. It also meets the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 and helps to show how we meet the requirements of the public sector equality duty. Our EDS report can be found in the Equality information 2026 (PDF, 753 KB) report.

Inclusive engagement

We actively seek to include people from a variety of communities in all aspects of our work. Part of the way we celebrate Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly’s diversity is by marking significant cultural events throughout the year. People from the local community are invited to talk about their experiences and needs at events across the system.

This helps to raise awareness of different protected characteristics, cultures, and inclusion health group needs. Celebrating and recognising cultural awareness days is an important way of empowering our workforce to be more inclusive. It also demonstrates our commitment to equality and diversity to our local populations. We believe that equality and diversity is core to our public engagement. Read more about how to get involved.

We want to make sure that everyone is able to engage in ways which are suitable to their needs. If you have a communication, access, cultural or other need when engaging with us, please tell us so that we can work to meet your needs.

Public sector equality duty compliance

Setting equality objectives is part of NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly’s compliance with the Equality Act (2010). It helps to show how we meet the requirements of the public sector equality duty. Read our Equality information 2026 (PDF, 753 KB) report.

Our equality objectives, and actions underway to support these, include the following.

Equality objective 1

Implement clear development programmes on equity, diversity and inclusion. To improve cultural competency at all levels, ensuring our staff have skills and confidence in providing individualised care, across the system.

• Running the reverse mentoring programme, designed to strengthen inclusive leadership and improve the experience of colleagues from under represented groups across our system.
• Rolling out the training for understanding and tackling sexual misconduct in the workplace. The policy was agreed by workforce committee in November 2024. Misogyny training and women’s health inequality training available from June 2024.
• Inclusive language for inclusive teams training provided for senior leadership team colleagues in December 2024 to April 2025, to increase dialogue about equality, diversity and inclusion.
• Cultural capability training offered to staff through 2024 and 2025.
• Updating protected characteristics on the electronic staff record (ESR), to make the best use of a small data set, and to understand the needs of our colleagues. This was taken to team brief with a presenter from the allies network giving an example of how this data is used and why. Promotion has continued via staff updates, to increase disclosure rates.
• Written and implemented an employee network group development programme for chairs and vice chairs. Six-monthly reviews taking place across quarters 3 and 4 of 2025 to 2026 financial year. Executive sponsor role description written and shared.
• Employee network groups encouraged to celebrate 3 main events. Teams channels in place and allies network hosts chairs of network channel to share resources. Awareness and celebration days regularly promoted.
• Reviewing personal equality objectives for executives and senior management in the ICB. Postponed due to the organisational redesign.

Equality objective 2

Promote positive behaviours and address bullying, harassment, and discrimination through clear strategies to tackle systemic inequalities.

• A culture and diversity conference was held in March 2024, with a focus on race.
• Anti-discrimination statement drafted. Adoption postponed due to the organisational redesign.
• Establishment of the Discrimination, Bullying and Abuse Direct Action Hub (DBADAH). The first meeting took place in August 2024. Workstreams have been set up. Postponed due to capacity across the equality teams.
• Promote staff networks and freedom to speak up as safe spaces for colleagues to share their experiences. Staff network promotion is underway via team brief and regular staff updates. Freedom to speak up taken to June 2025 team brief and promoted in staff updates.
• Participation in the no hate partnership, and supported the say no to hate conference which took place in November 2025 regarding hate crime and third party reporting centres.
• The understanding and tackling sexual misconduct policy was agreed by workforce committee in November 2024. Misogyny training and women’s health inequality training available from June 2024. Women’s health inequalities conference held June 2025, contributing towards co-creating our women’s health strategy for Cornwall.

Equality objective 3

Ensure equitable representation across all levels, developing an enhanced recruitment process to attract people and offer clear career progression.

• Promotion of inclusive recruitment guides and videos with staff and managers. Guides and videos have been promoted to partners and shared as part of the 90 day challenge for recruitment for our global majority colleagues.
• Promotion of support available through the staff networks and staff groups. Staff network promotion is underway via team brief and regular staff updates.
• Linked the WorkWell programme and Active Cornwall health lead with the long term conditions and disabilities staff network and staff groups.
• Sponsorship for inclusion programme offered to those who have been involved in the employee networks and reverse mentoring programme.
• Scope for growth discussions in relation to career conversations commenced across the ICB and NHS partners.
• Update and refresh the ICB’s inclusive recruitment guidance, with the people team. Equality and selection training is being rolled out in quarter 4 of 2025 to 2026 for those involved in the interview process resulting from the organisational redesign.
• A job description audit to take place during quarter 4 2025 to 2026 financial year. As part of the equality impact assessment for the reorganisation, and supporting the gender pay gap action plan, an audit of the proposed job descriptions will take place to ensure they are inclusive.

Equality objective 4

Work with system partners to improve equitable access to healthcare, involving and engaging the local population to focus on preventative care.

• Promotion of the NHS 10 year plan engagement activities with colleagues, partners and members of the public.
• Promoted use of Model Health System to understand outliers with partners.
• All GP practices in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly have veteran aware accreditation as of November 2024.
• Launch of the diabetes BSL films in June 2025. The films were created by Hearing Loss Cornwall, Diabetes UK, Healthy Cornwall and the ICB. The films are now being shared across national platforms.
• Standardised icons for display proposal developed. The proposal is being trialled in quarter 4 of 2025 to 2026 and quarter 1 of the 2026 to 2027 financial years.
• Revised accessible information standard launched June 2025. Updated information shared online and with partners. Reviewed with members of the Cornwall accessible communications group in September and December 2025. Implementation actions to be reviewed by June 2026.
• Embedding learning from a Regulation 28 Prevention of Future Deaths report.
• Initial discussions held May 2025 and September 2025 regarding developing an online impact assessment process. Postponed due to the organisational redesign.

The equality leads from NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board, Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust are working on shared and individual actions to support the equality objectives.

Information about our public sector equality duty compliance can also be seen in our annual report.

Impact assessments

We try to ensure our policies, strategies, projects, and procedures are inclusive. We use impact assessments to understand the impact of decision making on our colleagues and members of the public.

This is important because decisions can affect different people in different ways. The impact assessment includes a consideration of protected characteristics and inclusion health groups.

Impact assessments should capture the positive, negative, and neutral impacts, to inform risk and action planning. By considering inclusion health factors, we take a wider view when considering the impacts of our services across our communities and aim to reduce health inequalities.