The NHS Equality Delivery System (EDS) 

The EDS is designed to help NHS organisations improve equality performance, embed equality into mainstream NHS business and is one of the key products to come out of the Equality and Diversity Council (EDC).

The EDS is designed for the NHS by the NHS and is based on:

• best practice from across industry, including the Equality Framework for local government
• the views of over 660 people (including patients & staff)
• reviews and reports on equality in the NHS, including guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)
• learning from programmes such as Pacesetters, Breaking Through and Positively Diverse.

The following five documents were published on the 29 July and are available to download from the East Midlands website: 

• The EDS for the NHS: Main text 
• The EDS for the NHS: Equality Analysis
• The EDS for the NHS: 9 Easy Steps
• The EDS for the NHS: Grades Manual
• The EDS for the NHS: Statement on costs and benefits

The EDS applies to all NHS organisations, both current and planned NHS commissioning organisations, including GP Consortia, and to NHS providers including foundation trusts.

By using the EDS, you will be able to meet the requirements of the Equality Act and be better placed to meet the registration requirements of the Care Quality Commission (CQC).  The EDS helps the NHS to deliver on:

• the NHS Outcomes framework
• the right and pledges of the NHS Constitution for patients and staff
• addressing health inequalities in general, improving outcomes and reducing gaps.

Implementation of EDS

The EDS work is being led by Tim Rideout, Implementation Director, NHS Commissioning Board on behalf of the EDC. To date the EDS proposals have been developed by a working group which includes representatives from strategic health authorities, primary care trusts, the NHS Employers organisation and the Care Quality Commission, supported by Department of Health officials.

The timeline for the implementation of EDS is as follows:

• July 2011 - Roll-out of the EDS to the NHS
• September 2011- Evaluation of the EDS commences
• October 2011 - Launch of the EDS
• April 2012 - EDS is implemented

The NHS Employers organisation is working with the EDS support team to help employers effectively implement the EDS into their organisations. Our work will include:  

• providing technical expert advice on how the EDS works
• supporting employers to intergrate the EDS into their corporate governance structures
• working with regional EDS leads to capture good practice examples for others to learn from
• promoting the EDS through appropriate regional and national events, conferences and meetings
• liaising with colleagues in other parts of the public sector to promote the EDS and explore how it can compliment and read across to similar frameworks

Further information and resources

There is a range of resources and materials that have been developed to support NHS organisations to implement the EDS, see the NHS East Midlands website for more details about resource and materials.

If you would like to know what is happening in your area please contact your Strategic Health Authority equality lead, see the NHS East Midlands website for details of the regional leads.

If you have a general query about the implementation of EDS please email equalitydeliverysystem@dh.gsi.gov.uk