24 January 2020

The Trust that runs Shropshire’s two acute hospitals is making a number of improvements to its Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) work to support staff, patients and the local community.

Following a successful launch last year, this week The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), which runs the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, held its second EDI Stakeholder event to improve its services to all members of the community with the aim that everyone who attends our hospitals feels valued and treated with compassion and respect.

Staff from across the Trust presented information about services, including: Frailty, Ophthalmology, End of Life Care, and Fertility. Each 10-minute presentation was followed by group discussions on what the service is doing well and what improvements could be made to meet the needs of the Local community.

Ruth Smith, SaTH’s Lead for Patient Experience, said: “All participants have had an opportunity to express their views on how we can provide the best care and support to the local community.

“The information gathered will be used to develop improvement plans and support the Trust in identifying priorities to address inequalities of access, care and outcomes, ensuring that everyone is treated with dignity and respect.”

“As a Trust, we’re committed to addressing health inequalities and value the opportunity to work with patients, carers, stakeholders, voluntary organisations and staff to improve services.”

Elsewhere, SaTH will be holding two LGBT+ awareness workshops during February to support LGBT+ History Month. The Trust also recently introduced the Rainbow Badge scheme, in which staff can apply for a badge to champion and demonstrate awareness of the issues that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT+) people can face when accessing healthcare.

In March, Kal Parkash will join SaTH to take up a brand new role – Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Lead. Kal joins the Trust from West Mercia Police where she was shortlisted for the National Excellence in Diversity Awards, in recognition of increasing BME representation.