Equality & Inclusion

Equality and Inclusion

Central to delivering Fairer Health for All is tackling injustice and advancing equality in our workforces, alongside addressing existing inequality, in our health and care delivery. These are symbiotic actions that will strengthen our ability to evidence a reduction in unwarranted disparities for our diverse communities in health and care access, experiences, and outcomes.

NHS GM has a statutory responsibility to address inequalities and advance equalities. We have prioritised three overall Equality Objectives to cover the period to March 2026. 

NHS GM’s equality objectives support our system to respond to urgent priorities we face in health and care. Creating the conditions for diverse leadership, workforce, and talent to flourish, we can generate the insight and ability to deliver to our diverse community’s needs. Delivering effective interventions at the right place and level to improve health outcomes for all that will help tackle long waiting lists and excessive accident and emergency presentations. 

There is now ample evidence of how policies and practices can inadvertently, adversely affect the health, wellbeing and outcomes for communities that experience discrimination and disadvantage (systemic discrimination). Integrated Care Systems are expected to deliver effective interventions at the right place and level so that they can make a difference to our diverse population’s unequal outcomes. We can now take systemic practical actions to address and remove unhelpful ‘baked in adverse bias’.

Fairer Health for All cannot be achieved without greater diversity of thought, workforce, cultural proficiency and more inclusive behaviours.

This requires commitment to a partnership approach to better understand the needs of diverse cultures, languages, faiths and backgrounds and creating the right conditions for equitable and sustainable access, experiences and outcomes for everyone. We recognise the history and impact of institutional racism across our society and organisations is a major driver of health inequalities we see today and continues to cause harm to both our colleagues and communities. It is our role as a health care system, and key to tackling health inequalities, to commit to the North-West Anti Racist Framework, which will accelerate action to address disparities in employment, access to healthcare and improve health outcomes for both patients and healthcare professionals that experience discrimination due to their race.

Equity and Inclusion are central to the way we do things.

“ We recognise that key to delivering the Fairer Health for All framework is that our strategies, plans, policies, practices and decisions must intentionally advance our work on creating a more equitable and inclusive organisation. The key bridge between a culture of equity and road map principles is that every employee in the organisation, from those leading the organisation to front-line staff, know how to practically operationalise advancing equity and inclusion in their daily jobs - role modelled from the top of our organisation - to help drive positive culture change.

It is in this context, we are embarking on a journey where all Chief Executives, Chairs and board members have distinct objectives to improve equity in their organisation and lead a personal commitment to mainstreaming inclusion, alongside a commitment to a continuous cycle of learning so that everyone can contribute to the provision of an inclusive and fair culture, which becomes a key metric for the organisation.

We know this will better serve our employees, the citizens of Greater Manchester and deliver on our Fairer Health for All framework.”

Mark Fisher, Chief Executive of NHS Greater Manchester