Names & Job titles of team members:
- Reece St Omer, Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
- Andrea Erdos, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Officer
- Lisa Daniel, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Project Support Coordinator (secondment)
- Please provide an overview of the work your team delivers:
As the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Team at Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust we have transformed the organisation’s approach to inclusion, demonstrating how a small, highly committed team can deliver significant and measurable change at scale.
Serving the largest community healthcare provider in the South of England, supporting services across 14 London boroughs and Hertfordshire, we have successfully moved EDI from a standalone function to a shared organisational responsibility. Through the introduction of the EDI Everyday Implementation Plan and the development of a comprehensive five-year EDI Action Plan, we have embedded inclusion into governance, workforce development, data quality, culture and leadership accountability across the Trust.
Our team holds responsibility for workforce inclusion across the entire Trust. We lead the organisation’s efforts to create an inclusive, equitable and supportive workplace for all colleagues and are responsible for embedding inclusion into organisational culture, workforce practices, leadership development and service delivery.
We continue to deliver against our five-year EDI Action Plan, driving meaningful change through a combination of workforce development, staff engagement, culture improvement and inclusive governance. We also support local inclusion priorities through targeted analysis of divisional staff survey results, listening sessions and data insights to help shape the development of this work.
A key focus of our work is learning and development. In 2025 we expanded the EDI training offer, delivering tailored sessions to teams across the organisation alongside core programmes including Equally Yours, Allyship and Anti-Racism training. This approach has enabled services to explore inclusion issues most relevant to their workforce while building understanding, confidence and practical skills. A growing network of trained EDI training facilitators who support the local delivery of this training offer, has also increased the reach and sustainability of this work.
We hold a central role in shaping organisational culture. This includes supporting the Trust’s Tackling Bullying & Harrassment, Culture Group and Cultural Ambassadors programme, promoting cultural intelligence, psychological safety and inclusive leadership. Alongside this, our Head of EDI introduced Divisional EDI Forums across all of our clinical and corporate services to provide opportunities for colleagues to share learning, discuss challenges and drive local improvements in relation to inclusion. The divisional EDI forums have also supported significant increases in staff engagement with EDI initiatives and discussions related to inclusion.
Employee voice is a cornerstone of our approach. We support and govern seven staff networks: the Race Equality Network, Disability and Wellness Network, Rainbow Network, Women’s Network, Faith and Belief Network, Parents and Carers Network, and Men’s Network. These networks provide peer support, influence organisational decision making and create opportunities for collaboration on awareness campaigns, learning events and inclusion initiatives.
The team also leads work on workforce equity, including inclusive recruitment, pay gap analysis and Equality Impact Assessments, where the Head of EDI chairs the EIA Oversight Group, helping ensure that policies, processes and decisions are fair and inclusive. In addition, the team launched an EDI Book Club, delivering opportunities for colleagues to engage with diverse perspectives and lived experiences through facilitated discussion and reflection.
Alongside this work, the team has helped the Trust achieve significant external recognition, including Disability Confident Level 2 status, continued membership of the Business Disability Forum and Menopause Friendly Accreditation, demonstrating a sustained commitment to creating a workplace where everyone can thrive.
Through collaboration, innovation and a strong focus on belonging, the CLCH EDI Team continues to drive positive cultural change, strengthen staff experience and ensure inclusion remains at the heart of the Trust’s work.
- Please list any significant achievements made by your team since its inception:
- In 2024, our Head of EDI, Reece St Omer, introduced the EDI Everyday Implementation Plan to create a clear, practical framework for embedding inclusion into daily practice across the Trust.
- Building on this foundation, in 2025 we developed and published a comprehensive five-year EDI Action Plan, bringing together actions from statutory reports including the Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES), Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES), Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) reporting requirements and the NHS EDI Improvement Plan into a single strategic roadmap.
- Developed a new EIA process, guidance to support the revised process as well as an Oversight Group to ensure effective governance of the process.
- Launched an enhanced Trust-wide EDI training offer including topics on anti-racism, allyship and inclusive practice rooted in equality legislation and Trust practice.
- Launched an Inclusive Recruitment working group that led to the development of a Cultural Ambassador model that has resulted in 32 staff being undertaking the Cultural Ambassador training programme at the Royal College of Nursing and sit on all band 7 recruitment campaigns to ensure that inclusive recruitment practices are adopted with a view to ensuring equitable outcomes in career progression for all staff.
- Established EDI forums across all clinical and corporate services to provide staff voices, build confidence in knowledge of inclusive practices and showcase best practice at local levels.
- Reporting on Gender, Ethnicity and Disability pay gaps ahead of mandated expectations.
- Continued membership with the Business Disability Forum, supporting ongoing improvement in disability inclusion.
- Achieved Level 2 Disability Confident status, recognising progress in supporting disabled colleagues and improving accessible employment practices.
- Achieved Menopause Friendly Accreditation, acknowledging the Trust’s work to create a supportive environment for colleagues experiencing menopause.
- Launched an EDI Book Club, delivering opportunities for colleagues to engage with diverse perspectives and lived experiences through facilitated discussion and reflection.
- Partnered with the Calibre Disability Leadership Development Programme and supported two cohorts of staff to graduate through this.
What impact has your team had on the organisation?
Our most recent Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) report demonstrates substantial improvements in workforce equality data. The proportion of staff who have not stated or specified their sexual orientation reduced from 33.88% in 2024 to 14.94% in 2025 and now stands at just 4.55%. Similarly, the percentage of colleagues who have not declared their disability status has fallen from 28.55% in 2024 to below 10% this year. These outcomes were achieved through a collaborative quality improvement initiative led by the EDI and People Analytics teams, supported by internal Quality Improvement facilitators.
This year, we undertook a comparative analysis of our Workforce Race Equality Standard report, benchmarking CLCH against two neighbouring NHS Trusts within the Inner North London system. Through this, we analysed that CLCH consistently delivers some of the strongest race equality outcomes across the region. Most notably, we recorded the lowest levels of harassment from patients and the public for both White and ethnically diverse staff, with rates of 18.73% for White staff and 22.22% for ethnically diverse staff, outperforming both comparator Trusts.
We also achieved the lowest level of discrimination from managers and colleagues, reporting just 6.4% for White staff and 8.99% for ethnically diverse staff, significantly lower than comparator Trusts. Importantly, the ethnicity gap for discrimination was only 2.59 percentage points, the smallest of all three trusts, demonstrating that experiences of discrimination are becoming increasingly equitable across the workforce.
The organisation’s success is particularly evident when examining long term trends. Since 2021:
- Harassment from patients and the public experienced by ethnically diverse staff has fallen from 25.74% to 22.22%, maintaining the lowest rate among all comparator trusts throughout the period.
- Harassment from patients and the public experienced by White staff has reduced dramatically from 27.11% to 18.73%, representing an improvement of 8.38 percentage points over five years.
- Experiences of discrimination among ethnically diverse staff reduced from 11.19% in 2021 to 8.99% in 2025, while remaining lower than comparator organisations throughout the period.
These results are significant because they demonstrate not simply isolated improvements, but a sustained trend showing that ethnically diverse staff are experiencing safer, fairer and more inclusive working environments year after year. We know that we have more to do, but our continued and strategic efforts to make improvements has led to positive change.
Taken together, these outcomes provide strong evidence that our EDI action plan is having a lasting organisational impact. The data shows that ethnically diverse staff are experiencing less discrimination, less harassment and more equitable workplace experiences than many peers across the system. This reflects years of sustained investment in inclusive leadership, workforce equity, staff engagement and accountability, demonstrating that race equality at CLCH is not simply a commitment in principle, but one that is delivering measurable improvements in the lived experience of staff.
As a result, we can demonstrate that our race equality work has moved beyond activity and ambition into evidenced organisational impact, creating a more inclusive culture where disparities are reducing and staff experience is improving over time.
- Please provide an endorsing statement from someone who can support this nomination
I am proud to endorse the nomination of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Team at Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust for the Diversity Team Award.
The EDI Team has played a pivotal role in transforming inclusion across our organisation. Working within one of the largest community healthcare providers in the South of England, they have successfully embedded equality, diversity and inclusion into our culture, workforce practices and leadership priorities, ensuring inclusion is not viewed as a standalone initiative but as a fundamental part of how we operate.
What makes this team exceptional is the scale of impact they have achieved. Through the delivery and development of a comprehensive five-year EDI Action Plan and the introduction of innovative programmes such as EDI training, divisional EDI forums and the EDI Book Club, they have created meaningful opportunities for learning, engagement and culture change across the Trust.
The team has also strengthened staff voice and representation through its support of our thriving staff networks, enabling colleagues to influence decision-making, shape organisational priorities and drive intersectional inclusion initiatives. Their commitment to developing diverse talent is demonstrated through work such as the Calibre Disability Leadership Programme, which has supported multiple cohorts of colleagues to build confidence and progress their leadership journeys.
Most importantly, the team’s work has delivered measurable outcomes. Improvements in workforce data quality, inclusive recruitment practices and staff experience, alongside strong race equality outcomes and reductions in discrimination and harassment experienced by ethnically diverse colleagues, demonstrate that their work is making a tangible difference.
The EDI Team is passionate, innovative and relentlessly committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued, respected and able to thrive. Their impact has been significant, sustainable and worthy of national recognition.
Deputy Chief People Officer, Jane Smith
