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Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED)

The Equality Act 2010 has brought with it a new, legal, public sector equality duty (PSED) requiring public bodies to declare their compliance with the duty on an annual basis.  This means that NHS Bournemouth and Poole must show compliance with both the general and specific duties of the PSED. 

For the general duty we need to show how we are having due regard to the need to:

• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010
• advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it
• foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.

Protected characteristics – in the context of the PSED – are defined as

• age
• disability
• gender reassignment
• pregnancy and maternity
• race – this includes ethnic or national origins, colour or nationality
• religion or belief – this includes lack of belief
• sex (male & female)
• sexual orientation

It also applies to marriage and civil partnership, but only in respect of the requirement to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination.

For the specific duty we are required to

• publish information to demonstrate compliance with the general duty by 31 January 2012
• publish data on the make up of the workforce by 31 January 2012
• publish data on those affected by NHS Bournemouth and Poole's policies and procedures by 31 January 2012
• publish one or more equality objectives covering a 4 year period by 06 April 2012.

The progress we have made towards meeting the requirements of the general equality duty can be seen in our progress report on the right hand side of this page.

Copies of our staff survey are also available to illustrate the issues raised by staff. This is an annual survey for which an action plan is produced to outline the actions taken by the PCT.