Published on: 22nd January 2015
Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT) has been once again ranked in Stonewall’s list of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) friendly employers. This year the Trust has improved a massive 145 places on the index.
The Trust has participated in the Stonewall workplace equality index which showcases Britain’s best employers for lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) staff, for the fifth year running. To be accepted by Stonewall, the Trust had to demonstrate workplace culture and activity, covering policy, practice and service user engagement.
Sophie Ford, Trust Equality and diversity lead, said:
It’s a real honour for the Trust to achieve this significant increase in Stonewall’s rankings. The organisation has been extremely supportive of the equality agenda as a whole. I hope that our staff and service users are starting to see and feel the real difference.
Zoë Rowe, Deputy director of nursing and quality and Senior LGBT visible leader and champion said:
The improvement of our ranking in the index reflects the positive work going on across LPFT from ward to board level, showing the real commitment to challenging discrimination. LPFT’s Board signed up to the Stonewall Straight Alleys pledge in 2014, affirming the Trust’s commitment to supporting all staff, regardless of sexual orientation, to achieve their full potential. It is recognised there is a positive link between quality of patient care and staff who feel safe, respected and valued. The Stonewall Workplace Equality Index assists us to benchmark, enabling us recognise and build on our strengths and to focus on the areas we need to further improve. LPFT’s significant improvement in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index is a very positive reflection on the hard work of all staff within LPFT over the past year.
The Trust is now using this process to assess and identify gaps to improve accessibility to local mental health services and employment practices. It will be concentrating on helping to ensure that staff from LGBT backgrounds are visible (where they want to be) and feel confident to influence policy and change across both employment and services. This will include further development of staff networks.
Out of 397 employers who entered the 2015 index, LPFT were 123rd (268th in 2014). In the East Midlands region LPFT was ranked 11th and in the national health sector index LPFT came 15th.
