Engagement and Equalities Lead

Are you passionate about inclusion and diversity in older people? Are you out-going and happy to engage people from a broad range of backgrounds? Do you have excellent communication and interpersonal skills? If so, the role of Engagement and Equality lead is for you.

Reporting to the Quality and Performance Lead for Older People’s Mental Health Services, the Engagement and Equality Lead will be an active participant in West London NHS Trust’s diversity forums, which work to promote inclusivity and equality for patients and carers in under-represented groups. They will develop an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy and will be responsible for embedding inclusive practice by reaching out and building partnerships in the community with patients, carers and stakeholders.

They will ensure that service users and carers, regardless of ethnicity, sexuality, gender, age, disability or experience of mental health difficulties, are heard and involved in key decisions, alongside clinical teams and managers. This will support quality and efficiency in the Older People’s Service line and facilitate future transformation.

The role will be based in West London NHS Trust Headquarters but will involve participation in in-person forums and meetings throughout the boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham and Hounslow, for both the inpatients and community teams.

The Older People’s Mental Health Service (OPMHS) is a supportive, caring, integrated service where staff work together closely to support our patients and their families. We have strong links with medical teams, Allied Health Professionals, Carers and the local community.

We value diversity and are keen to ensure that our workforce reflects the community it serves, particularly in terms of ethnicity, gender, disability and sexuality. We are immensely proud of our staff and their passion, professionalism and dedication to changing people’s lives. If you share that passion and want to make a difference, then come and join us.

West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse providers of mental health, community and social care in the UK.

Our 3,982 staff care for people in hospital and in the community, helping them to recover and go on to lead full and productive lives. We aim to be the best organisation of our kind in the country.

We provide care and treatment for more than 800,000 people living in the London boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow, delivering services in the community (at home, in GP surgeries and care homes), hospital, specialist clinics and forensic (secure) units.

We’re rated good overall by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Together, we’re committed to promoting hope and wellbeing, working with patients, service users, carers, families and partners across the communities we serve.

We are keen to ensure that our workforce reflects the community it serves, particularly in terms of ethnicity, gender, disability, LGBTQ+ and experience of mental illness.

The regulations mandating vaccination for in-scope roles in the NHS have now been removed. The Trust does however continue to encourage and support staff to be vaccinated as this remains the best line of defence against COVID19. Vaccination data will be collected by our recruitment team during your on-boarding if you are happy to provide a copy of your COVID pass.

The post-holder will lead on the development of an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy and operational framework for OPMHS that promotes equity of access, increased service user/carer/community participation and involvement and social inclusion. This will be achieved through ongoing involvement of service users, carers, colleagues and wider stakeholders.

In partnership with services users, carers and wider stakeholders the post holder will embed inclusive and equitable practice across OPMHS and ensure good practice is developed and sustained.

The post-holder will ensure that OPMHS is compliant with equalities legislation and all services can provide evidence of integrating equality and inclusion into service management decision-making.

In conjunction with the relevant line managers, the post holder will support community staff, notably link and peer support workers, in ongoing outreach to ensure the service continuously facilitates equitable access provides appropriate services for all.