The Equality Delivery System (EDS) has been designed by the NHS as a framework improvement tool to support the Trust in driving up equality performance and embed a clear vision for a personal, fair and diverse health and care service into all areas of WMAS.
The EDS will also support the Trust in meeting the equality aspects of the NHS Constitution, the NHS Outcomes Framework, Care Quality Commission’s Essential Standards, and the Human Resources Transition Framework.
You can read the latest WMAS EDS2 Report here
Equality Delivery System Framework
This framework helps NHS organisations review and assess their equality performance against four goals and eighteen objectives. The objectives aim to improve outcomes for patients, communities and employees and ensure legal compliance through applying a consistent framework to identify inequalities and barriers throughout the NHS.
EDS3 2022 (New Framework)
Over the past few years there has been on-going development to refresh and simplify the EDS2 grading system. The new process has been developed and a refreshed framework is now in place which has been called EDS3 2022. There are three domains in the new framework as follows:
- Domain 1 – Commissioning and Provided Services
- Domain 2 – Workforce Health and Well-Being
- Domain 3 – Leadership
EDS is aligned with the Equality Act 2010 and covers the same protected characteristics. It is our intention to develop sustained relationships with other groups such as asylum seekers, people from deprived communities and other seldom heard communities. EDS requires us to be graded by a representative panel made up of employees, patients, local interest groups, governors, trust members and any other interested parties. The panel is responsible for rating our performance on evidence we make available against each objective.
2020 – 2021 EDS2 Grading Results
West Midlands Ambulance Service annually holds Equality Delivery System 2 events both internally and externally. Internally we ask staff to grade the Trust against goal 1 which relate directly to them. Externally we ask our communities, partners and other agencies we work with to grade the Trust performance against the other prescribed goals. The Trust has delivered Goal 3 relating to staff only until EDS3 is published later this year. The Staff event covered goal 3 – empowered, engaged and well supported staff, incorporating:
- Recruitment and Selection
- Development
- Equal pay
- Bullying & Harassment
- Flexible working.
The current EDS2 rating system is underpinned by a substantial number of factors which need to be evidenced to achieve one of the four ratings. Each prescribed outcome is presented by a facilitator to the audience who then discussed their views prior to making a decision on the grading and make suggestions to enable improvement. The grading headings are as follows:
The Trust has improved or maintained EDS2 gradings for staff outcomes.
Due to COVID-19 and difficulties in achieving community engagement, the Trust has limited EDS-2 for 2020-2021 to outcomes for staff.
2018 – 2020 EDS Grading Results
West Midlands Ambulance Service achieved the grade of “Achieving” in ten categories and “Excelling” in eight categories. This was an improvement over the previous years result. This provides scope and actions to progress further in coming years.
