Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI)

Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI)

St Michael’s Hospice aspires to be a place where everyone feels welcome; whether you are cared for or supported by us, employed by us, volunteer for us, or support us in any way. We recognise that being a diverse and inclusive organisation will enable us to achieve our vision of a kind, resilient and empowered community who are ready, willing, capable and confident to support people living with dying, death and loss.

People should have equitable access to our services and to be treated with kindness and respect. We will work with all patients, families and bereaved people to truly understand their individual needs and strive to meet them. However, we know there is more work to do to engage with our diverse community and to reach people who feel that the Hospice cannot meet their needs. To help us do this we are gathering information such as age, gender identity, ethnic background, sexual orientation, religion/belief and disability. This will enable us to assess equality and diversity across the organisation, to understand where the gaps are within our service and inform our priorities for action.

We want to recruit and retain the most diversely talented people and have a workforce representative of our community. We are committed to creating an inclusive and safe work place, free of bullying and discrimination. To support us in this we provide training and a range of learning opportunities, for employees and volunteers, on what an inclusive organisation looks and feels like. Our ‘Proud to be…’ series has created the psychological safety for colleagues to share lived experiences, without fear of judgment or adverse treatment. This has enabled the entire organisation to grow.

To ensure the goals of this statement become actions we have established two groups made up of employees from various teams across the Hospice: the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Steering Group and EDI Action Plan Delivery Group. We are also listening to and working alongside representatives from marginalised groups, to make sure we are embedding inclusion into everyday Hospice policies and procedures, so equality and diversity is at the very heart of our business.

We will work with all patients, families and bereaved people to truly understand their individual needs and strive to meet them.