Staff within the musculoskeletal physiotherapy outpatient departments across both Royal Preston Hospital and Chorley District Hospital are undertaking a project to gain further understanding of what the team do well to promote diversity, inclusion and equality; as well as what could be done to improve the services offered, to challenge staff to think differently, and to promote the importance of diversity, inclusion and equality.
The first stage of this project is a collaboration between the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) and staff from the musculoskeletal physiotherapy outpatient departments. This will involve a group of physiotherapy students in their second and third years working alongside members of the hospital team to work through a number of scenarios in order to review services offered with respect to diversity, inclusion and equality.
The second stage of the project would then be to look at inviting and supporting patients to review the services that the departments offer with respect to celebrating diversity, promoting inclusion and supporting equality.
Finally, the third stage of the project would be to invite members of the musculoskeletal physiotherapy outpatient departments to review the workplace in respect of diversity, inclusion and equality.
Jennifer Carroll, Specialist Physiotherapist at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, is leading this project. Jennifer said: “I am hopeful that this work will enable us to identify what we are doing well, but to also positively challenge what we are doing and how we could make continual improvements. I also want to raise awareness and emphasise the importance of diversity, inclusion and equality in the workplace. I hope that this pilot will be a success and will be adopted by other teams and departments around our hospitals too.”
October is Global Diversity Awareness Month which aims to celebrate diversity and inclusion and which provides an opportunity to educate each other about differences too. The month is a chance to hear new views and ideas, appreciate cultural differences, and enjoy a fresh perspective on different cultures and ideas and is the perfect opportunity to launch this initiative.
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals prides itself on being an inclusive and diverse organisation, and is lucky to have a workforce full of talented individuals who originate from 94 different countries across the globe and who come from a variety of backgrounds.
Mandy Davis, Blended Learning Manager and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead (Workforce) at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, said: “We are totally committed to creating an inclusive working environment, in addition to developing and delivering services that respond to people’s individual needs”
“We are proud to be actively participating in events like Global Diversity Awareness Month, Black History Month and Preston Pride to ensure that our hospitals truly celebrate diversity and champion inclusion at every level.”