Equality, diversity and inclusion consultation: we want your views
Help us shape our approach to equality, diversity and inclusion
We are now consulting on our five-year strategy to deliver equality, improve diversity and foster inclusion.
This strategy brings a new focus and energy to our efforts to progress how we deliver equality, improve diversity and foster inclusion. It provides a framework for the delivery of this work, across our organisation, in support of our Vision 2030 and Strategic plan 2020-2025. We believe this will reinforce our commitment to EDI and ensure that it remains at the heart of everything we do.
The 12-week consultation seeks views on our proposals to be more proactive and joined up in using our regulatory influence and levers to help reform the structures and practices that maintain inequality and discrimination within pharmacy and pharmacy regulation.
The strategy sets out three key themes in order to transform the organisation’s approach to EDI:
- To make regulatory decisions which are demonstrably fair, lawful, and so free from discrimination and bias
- To use GPhC standards to proactively help tackle discrimination in all pharmacy settings and make sure everyone can access person-centred care, fostering equality of health outcomes
- The GPhC leads by example and demonstrates best practice, holding itself to the same high standards it expects of others
It is important to highlight that we have a legal duty, under the Equality Act, to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation, advance equality of opportunity between people from different groups, and foster good relations between people from different groups when carrying out all of our day to day functions and activities as a public body. This is why our strategy covers all areas of our work from setting standards, to inspecting pharmacies through to making regulatory decisions when we need to – it’s about integrating consideration of equality in everything we do.
But, we also want to go beyond these strict legal requirements and we have developed a more holistic approach to delivering EDI outcomes in all our work, reflecting that diversity and inclusion are at the heart of our organisational culture and the way we want to work.
In this consultation, we are asking participants to share their views on the overall proposals presented in the EDI strategy, and whether there any changes or additions are needed. We are committed to keeping this strategy under close review, to ensure that it remains fit for purpose and supports our appropriate response to emerging internal and external issues, challenges and opportunities that may arise over the course of the next five years.
The consultation is open until 12 July 2021 and seeks views about the impact of the proposals on patients, the public, pharmacy professionals and employers.
For this strategy to be effective, we will need to work collaboratively with our colleagues and stakeholders across pharmacy to make this happen. Our aim is to listen, learn and most importantly, improve. We welcome views on our proposals to help us achieve this.
