Equality and Diversity

At Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust we are proud of the diversity of our workforce and we work hard to deliver equality and inclusion improvements for our patients and our staff alike. Here are some brief examples of some of our work in practice.

Route to Recruit

Since 2012 the Trust has been the employment partner of the Route to Recruit programme. Previously known as Project SEARCH, Route to Recruit is a unique collaboration which supports young people with learning disabilities transition from education into the world of paid employment. Since the programme has commenced, the Trust has welcomed over 60 young people, with over 25 graduates from the programmes securing employment at the Trust, working in a variety of full time and part time roles in departments including the mattress library, endoscopy, medical records and A&E and portering services. Additionally, a number of graduates have secured paid roles within their local communities with employers outside the NHS.

Community Engagement

We have a programme of events to enable us to connect with our diverse communities and representative patient groups alike. Understanding the needs of our communities enables us to shape improvements based on their feedback.

Work Experience for Young People

Since 2018 we have been Gold Rated in our Work Experience Quality Standard accreditation undertaken by Fairtrain. The Standard is a national accreditation signalling to prospective candidates the high quality work experience provision for young people at the Trust. We regularly host over 250 work experience placements per annum and have a number of specific events for students looking to pursue careers in areas such as Medicine or the Allied Health Professions.

Supporting Carers

We recognise the important role carers play and the benefits that carers bring to patients and the community. We have and continue to work hard to improve the support to carers to engage with carers to become active partners with us. We’ve developed a Carers Charter; Improved Information Resources for Carers and worked with other partner organisations such as the Alzheimers society and the Berkshire Carers Hub to host events and develop support networks.

Values and Behaviours

Equality and inclusion are central to our Trust Values and Behaviours Framework. The framework sets our expectations and responsibilities around our behaviours in key areas such as respect; dignity, professionalism; communication and inclusion. Through our ‘What Matters’ engagement programme, over 3000 staff contributed to shaping our values and behaviours. Applicants coming for interview at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust can expect an interview based on our organisational values. To find out more about our values, check out this video we have created: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ikdexgrYnY 

Disability Confident and Mindful Employer

In addition to our ongoing Disability Confident Employer accreditation through Job Centre Plus, this year we became a Mindful Employer accredited organisation – signalling our commitment to supporting and improving Mental Health at Work.

Supporting our Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority Colleagues

With BAME staff comprising nearly 30% of the RBFT workforce, we are proud of our diversity and the richness of experience this brings. We have an active BAME Staff Forum and BAME Staff champions network and a Reverse Mentoring programme and are always looking to further improve the experience of all our staff.

The video we created in celebration of Black History Month 2020 can be viewed here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akkaHaESdOs&t=133s 

LGBT+

The RBFT is a Diversity Champion, partnering with Stonewall, Europe’s biggest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) charity. We have established a staff LGBT+ network and regularly participate in Reading Pride. Since 2019 we have also been involved in the NHS Rainbow Pin Badge programme, issuing hundreds of pin badges across reflecting our individual and collective pledge to continually develop as an LGBT+ inclusive organisation

See our video that we created for NHS Virtual Pride 2020 here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_AmVdcHU_0&t=2s