NHS Lothian has reaffirmed its commitment to embedding a strong culture of gender equality by signing up to achieve the Equally Safe at Work Development Award. Being an Equally Safe at Work employer will mean that NHS Lothian can demonstrate that we are taking action to advance gender equality and helping to prevent violence against women.
Here is a message to all staff from Caroline Hiscox, NHS Lothian Chief Executive:
We know that supporting our staff, and all our colleagues in NHS Lothian, is vital to help you to thrive in your workplace. A major part of that is creating the right environment and culture where you feel safe and supported. This includes taking proactive steps to eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment and improving equality in NHS Lothian. We are a large health care provider, employer, and an anchor institution, and we can use our assets to support the health and wellbeing of Lothian communities and reduce inequalities.
NHS Lothian’s workforce is 78% female. Evidence shows that one in four women in Scotland experience domestic violence in their lifetime, and 70% of women in Scotland have reported experiencing or witnessing sexual harassment at work. Violence against women can have a profound impact on women at work, and it can be difficult for women to access appropriate support in the workplace.
While women share experiences across employment, women are not all the same. For example, some of our colleagues, including disabled women, racially minoritised women, lesbian, gay and bisexual women, trans women, younger and older women, and women of different faiths experience different, multiple barriers that lead to inequality in the workplace. As an organisation, we need to acknowledge this, call out gender inequality and violence against women when it happens and take action to reduce and remove gender inequality.
This is why we are taking forward our commitment to improving the work in this area by signing up to the Equally Safe at Work Accreditation scheme. Taking this important step will help us to achieve our ambition to be a gender inclusive organisation, as set out in NHS Lothian’s five-year Equality and Human Rights Strategy, and to achieve our commitment to improve staff wellbeing as explained in NHS Lothian Work Well Strategy.
Work to achieve this Award has already started. The Equally Safe at Work Programme is included within NHS Lothian’s Advancing Equalities in Employment Action Plan 2024-2026, and a working group has been set up that is being supported by a collaboration of our Staff Equality Networks, Staff Wellbeing Leads and recognised trade unions.
Work will progress over the next 18 months to help us create a culture of zero tolerance towards violence against women, support staff who are affected, and remove the barriers women face to achieving gender equality at work. We will put in place the right foundations to improve gender equality, ensuring that what we do has a lasting impact.
Our action plan will involve a range of activities to ensure we are meeting the Equally Safe at Work standards in Leadership, Data, Flexible Working, Occupational Segregation, Workplace Culture and Violence Against Women. This includes training for key people in the working group, education and awareness sessions, learning about the experiences of colleagues across the organisation, campaigns, and looking at our policies to ensure we are taking gender equality into account.
I hope you will look out for further information about our Equally Safe at Work Programme, the support available and consider how you can incorporate this into your work. This is an important part of our efforts to advance equality for everyone who works for NHS Lothian and uses our services and achieving this award will demonstrate our commitment to this important issue.
Caroline Hiscox, Chief Executive NHS Lothian
