Our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion
Embracing diversity
We are committed to helping our hospitals provide exceptional care and better health for people living in north west London. To do this, it’s important that we understand, appreciate and reflect the diverse communities we serve. Having a diverse team – bringing a range of perspectives, experiences, opinions and ideas – makes us stronger and more impactful. It empowers us to make better decisions and helps us engage more effectively with everyone who relies on our support.
Supporting our people
It matters to us that everyone who works with us feels valued, respected, listened to and treated fairly. We strive to support our people and create a welcoming and inclusive workplace where:
- everyone has a voice
- everyone is encouraged to share their views and experiences; and
- everyone has the confidence to challenge discriminatory behaviour.
We make sure our people are treated fairly and equitably by:
- Using tailored recruitment procedures specially designed to reduce unconscious bias throughout the application and shortlisting process.
- Committing to the ‘show the salary’ pledge, which means we include salary details for all our advertised roles and we don’t ask people to share their current or previous salary when they apply to work with us.
- Having a fair and transparent pay system, which includes benchmarking our salaries against the wider charity sector.
- Running a Safe Support Network, providing a safe space for staff with one or more protected characteristics to share their personal experiences and feedback.
- Providing professional training to help our people identify and challenge bullying and discriminatory behaviour.
We also provide opportunities for our people to:
- Take part in facilitated EDI conversations, highlighting the perspectives of those from marginalised groups in our society.
- Pursue their personal and professional development with an individual training budget each year.
- Shape our programme of staff wellbeing support by contributing to our internal working group.
- Share their views, comments and suggestions in our annual survey, team meetings, polls and Q&As
Making a greater impact
We know we can also make a positive impact by working together with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and our other partners. Through our grants, arts and volunteering programmes, we:
- Award funding to support specific EDI initiatives that aim to create a more equitable and inclusive culture at our hospitals.
- Collect demographic data about the people who benefit from our charitable activities so we can evaluate the impact of our programmes and address inequities.
- Raise awareness and challenge perceptions through thoughtprovoking art exhibitions and installations.
- Build strong partnerships with organisations in our local communities to help us recruit volunteers who live and work in the areas close to our hospitals.
- Provide an employability support programme, helping local people who are out of work and likely to experience health inequalities progress into health and social care careers through volunteering.
Continuing to listen and learn
We are committed to creating an equitable and inclusive culture, but we know there is more we can do to make sure our workplace is reflective of the communities we serve. We will therefore continue to listen, learn and work closely with our people and partners towards this goal.
Our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion was created collaboratively with contributions from people across our organisation, including members of our Safe Support Network. If you’d like to find out more, you can get in touch with us. Please email louise.stephens@imperialcharity.org.uk
