Equality and Diversity Policy

Our policy is designed to ensure and promote equality and inclusion, supporting the ethos and requirements of the Equality Act 2010 for all visitors to our surgery.

The practice is committed to both eliminating discrimination and encouraging diversity amongst our workforce and in relation to our patients and service users by:

• Ensuring that all patients and visitors are treated with dignity and respect.
• Promoting equality of opportunity between men and women.
• Not tolerating any discrimination or perceived discrimination against, or harassment of, any visitor for reason of age, sex, gender, marital status, pregnancy, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief.
• Providing the same treatment and services (including the ability to register with the practice) to any visitor irrespective of age, sex, marital status, pregnancy, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, medical condition, religion or belief.

This policy applies to the general public, including all patients and their families, visitors and contractors.

We will continuously work towards an anti-discriminatory environment, through open discussion within our staff team.

Procedure

If you feel discriminated against:

• You should bring the matter to the attention of our Practice Manager.
• Our Practice Manager will investigate the matter thoroughly and confidentially within 14 working days.
• Our Practice Manager will establish the facts and decide whether discrimination has taken place and advise you of the outcome of the investigation within 14 working days.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome, you should raise a formal complaint through our Complaints Procedure (available to download from our website or in paper format from our Reception team).

Discrimination against our Practice staff

The Practice will not tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment of our staff by any patient visitor. Any visitor who expresses any form of discrimination against or harassment of any member of our staff will be required to leave the practice premises immediately. If the visitor is a patient they may, at the discretion of the Practice Management, be removed from the Practice list.