Analysing the equality impact of our policies, decisions, strategies and services helps the Integrated Care Board (ICB) to meet the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty, ensuring the needs of protected or disadvantaged groups and communities are understood and addressed appropriately. 

We are required to demonstrate that we have had due regard for the general equality duty and consider reducing health inequalities across all our commissioning decisions.

NHS Birmingham and Solihull is committed to ensuring that it demonstrates due regard to the general duty when making decisions about policies and services. We have embedded the requirement to undertake an equality analysis into our decision making processes.

This ensures that we continually work to understand and respond to the diversity of patient experience in health access, care and outcomes, and to recognise and value the importance of using equality analysis to address inequality and health inequalities.

All committee reports require the author to consider how their report relates to equalities in general and to ensure that due regard is given to the general equality duty.

When analysing the impact of our policies and strategies, we do not limit the exploration of barriers and experiences to purely the nine protected characteristics as set out in the Equality Act 2010.

There are other socially excluded groups, for example – homeless people, gypsies and travellers, sex workers and migrant groups who often need support and help to navigate the health system effectively and who may access healthcare in ways which do not necessarily meet their particular needs, for example an over-reliance on A&E services. In this regard, there is also a clear economic case for considering the way in which such groups access and use healthcare services. For example, there is evidence of high rates of emergency care among certain socially excluded groups:

  • Homeless people are estimated to consume eight times more hospital inpatient services than the general population of similar age and make five times more A&E visits
  • Gypsies and travellers are reported to be more likely to visit A&E than a GP because of issues of trust
  • Alcohol misuse is associated with 190,000 hospital admissions each year. Around 70% of A&E attendances between midnight and 5am on weekend nights are alcohol related.

Equality analysis documents