Promoting equality, diversity & inclusion in Adult Social Care

What we’re doing well

• Culturally appropriate services
  We tailor our services to meet the diverse needs of individuals, especially those with protected characteristics, ensuring everyone feels seen and supported.
• Tackling health inequalities
  With strong support from Public Health, we’re working to close the gap in life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas.
• Inclusive, respectful care
  Our teams champion dignity, independence, and wellbeing—helping people stay connected and live healthier, more fulfilling lives.
• Smarter use of data
  We’re improving how we collect and use data on protected characteristics to better understand people’s experiences and remove barriers.
• Community collaboration
  We actively engage with families, carers, and communities—listening to feedback and shaping services that are flexible and responsive.

Where we need to improve

• Unequal access
  People with disabilities, long-term conditions, or mental health needs still face barriers—and outcomes can vary based on race, religion, or other characteristics.
• Data gaps
  We lack key information on marital status, race, and religion. For example, while 84% of service users are white, we need to better understand and support those who aren’t.
• Over-representation in deprived areas
  People from the most deprived areas are 11% more likely to use adult social care. We need to understand how multiple disadvantages affect access and outcomes.

 What we’re doing about it

We’re taking action through our Adults equality, diversity and inclusion group supported by our Transformation Programme and Data and Intelligence Strategy:

• Improving how we collect, store, and manage data
• Partnering with Public Health and the Integrated Care Board (ICB) to use population health management to be more proactive rather than reactive
• Using insights to design fairer, more inclusive services using the Service User Diversity Report