The Accessible Information Standards Harjit K Bansal NELFT NHS Foundation Trust

NELFT Services NELFT provides care and treatment for a diverse population of almost 1.5 million people We employ approximately 5,500 staff We are based in more than 200 locations in north east London (Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Redbridge and Waltham Forest) and Essex (Brentwood, Basildon, Thurrock, Southend, Castleford, Chelmsford, Colchester, Harlow).

Population: 1.5million Turnover: £314m (12/13) Staff: 5,500 Some Facts Ethnic Minority: 40% of the population is ethnic minority in London 32% of the workforce is ethnic minority 17% of the workforce is Black 84% of the workforce is Women

NELFT’s Values  The NELFT Values are (the 5Ps):  People first  Prioritising quality  Progressive, innovative and continually improving  Professional and honest  Promoting what is possible - independence, opportunity and choice

Commitment to Equality and Diversity  North East London Foundation Trust has set out our long- standing commitment to ensuring our services and employment practices are fair, accessible, and appropriate for the diverse community we serve and the workforce we employ. Equality and diversity is enshrined in our ‘vision and values’ which can be found here.

Our Commitment is:  to ensure we make it easy for people to access our services  We want to recruit and retain our staff from all diverse communities  We want to our staff and those who use our services to be valued and respected as individuals  We want to ensure that everyone is treated fairly and honestly.  Meet our compliance with the Equality Act 2010

Accessibility our patients  All policies are equality impact assessed  Training for staff  e-learning disability awareness  commissioning BSL training for front line staff  Disability staff network  Patient and carer participation groups  Information leaflets  In different formats  Access to interpreting and translation services

Electronic Patient Records Challenges:  Various electronic patient records  Managed by different teams and formatted differently  Reporting various (depending on who is commissioning the services

How did we progress this!  Developed a universal monitoring form for all services  Aligned our systems against the 9 protected characteristics  Asked services to amend the form according to the needs of their service  Developed a diversity monitoring information leaflet and poster (for all services)  Information leaflet sent out to all patients with their new appointment.

Cont…  Section on disability  Add a section on communication.  Developing a TEXThelp system for our staff – exploring how this could benefit our patients – Audio, easy read, large print  Redeveloping our website

What is needed  How can I improve it for your group?

 Harjit K Bansal, Equality and Diversity Manager  Tel: Ext: 