Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust is dedicated to promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion, fostering a welcoming environment for our children and young people, their families, visitors, and staff. We embrace a diverse workforce, acknowledging that everyone has unique backgrounds, experiences, beliefs, and perspectives.

The 450,000+ patients we see each year are a natural reflection of the rich, diverse mix of communities and cultures in the UK. We are committed to serving everybody equally, without prejudice.

Alder Hey is an inclusive, supportive environment with warm and friendly staff. As an organisation, we are mindful of the differing needs of individuals or groups, and we aim to meet all our expectations of us. To make sure we do this and develop our services where necessary, we actively engage with local community organisations.

If you are visiting Alder Hey as a patient, parent or carer, you might be interested to find out more in our dedicated section for patients and families.

What’s it got to do with me?

We use Equality and Diversity monitoring to help us get things right, and we never use your personal information. Even if it’s on the same form, it’s dealt with separately and the information you give isn’t linked back to you, we are committed to keeping all your information secure and confidential.

Monitoring is about collecting general statistics on who uses our services so we can make improvements for the people who need them – without the data, we can only guess!

Our obligations under the Equality Act 2010

The Public Sector Equality Duty requires public bodies to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between different people when carrying out their activities. The Trust as a Public Sector organisation is required to publish sufficient information to demonstrate our compliance with the public sector equality duty. This requirement arises from the Equality Act 2010.

Equality Reports

The Equality Delivery System (EDS) is a system that helps NHS organisations improve the services they provide for their local communities and provide better working environments, free of discrimination, for those who work in the NHS, while meeting the requirements of the Equality Act 2010. The EDS was developed by the NHS, for the NHS, taking inspiration from existing work and good practice. Read the report here.

The Gender Pay Gap report helps us identify and understand the causes of any gaps, allowing us to develop and monitor targeted, innovative, and supportive solutions. The gender pay gap reflects the difference in average pay between all men and women in our organisation, distinct from equal pay, which examines pay differences between men and women performing the same or similar jobs, or work of equal value. Read the report here.

The Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) is a tool designed for identifying key differences, referred to as ‘indicators’, between our white and ethnic minority staff experience of the workplace. Our aim is to close any gaps by tackling discrimination, promoting a positive culture, and valuing all staff. By supporting our staff and improving their experiences, we will have a positive impact on patient care. Read the report here.

The NHS Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) is an NHS wide standard which allows NHS organisations to compare the workplace and career experiences of disabled and non-disabled staff. NHS organisations use the metrics data to develop and publish an action plan. Year on year comparison enables us to show progress against the indicators of disability equality. Read the report here.

NHS England launched its first ever anti-racism framework: the Patient and carer race equality framework (PCREF), for all NHS mental health trusts and mental health service providers to embed across England. As a provider of Mental Health Services for children and young people, Alder Hey is subject to these requirements. You can find monthly reports here.

Our annual report highlights the progress we have made over the past 12 months. View most recent Annual Report here.

Equality Objectives 2025-2029

We have developed a set of equality objectives. demonstrating our commitment to creating an inclusive organisation, equality and inclusion and ensuring we comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). Find out more about our Equality Objectives.

Staff networks

ACE, Disabilities and Long-Term Conditions Staff Network aims to recognise all Abilities, Celebrate staff with Disabilities and long-term conditions and Educate others. They work together to identify and implement initiatives that will enhance the experience of our staff at Alder Hey. We are a Disability Confident employer which aims to help employers make the most of the opportunities provided by employing disabled people.

We have an active armed forces staff network who ensure that our staff and children and young people from armed forces communities are supported and have access to support when needed. We are part of the Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS), which acknowledges employers that provide exceptional support to the Armed Forces community and Defence by going above and beyond their Covenant pledges and was recently received the Gold award.

The purpose of staff network is to support, promote and acknowledge any issues affecting the LGBTQIA+ community. They actively work to enhance the experiences of our LGBTQIA+ staff. We have been awarded the Navajo Charter Mark showing our commitment to supporting everyone in the workplace regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

The purpose of our Race Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage (REACH) staff network is to provide support to our staff from the global majority. They identify ways of challenging discrimination and work with the Trust to improve staff experiences. They also raise awareness of any cultural celebrations, helping to build an inclusive culture.

Anti-Racism at Alder Hey

We have signed up to the North West BAME Assembly Anti-Racist Framework and are working to implement strategies that will support our anti-racism commitment. We recently co-developed an anti-racism statement with our staff.

Read our anti-racism statement