Introduction
Level 5 Diploma in leadership for HE & S C&YPS emphasises the need for powerful mechanisms designed to foster diversity, equality, and inclusion in healthcare settings. This paper explores an integral discussion on how the organisational systems drive or inhibit these fundamental principles in health and social care. Also, it reviews the performance of the current system under my portfolio, offering recommended amendments for the identified weaknesses and defects.
Analysing Systems and Processes (3.1)
Models of practice are the foundation for advocating equality and diversity in the intricate terrain of healthcare. Enhanced Ltd (2019) offers that these practices are supported by the legislative bedrock comprising the Human Rights Act 1998, Mental Capacity Act 2005, and Equality Act 2010. In particular, the Equality Act serves as a monitor against discrimination in care settings to ensure that all people receive care regardless of their requirements and abilities (Enhanced Ltd 2019). The shadow of discriminatory practices hangs over the implementation of these legislative protections, being caused by entrenched stereotypes, social exclusion, and biased views.
There has to be a careful analysis of this intersection of practice models and statutes in the health and social care domain. For example, the Equality Act 2010 is aimed to eliminate discrimination, with the spectrum of protected attributes including age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership, and pregnancy or maternity (Sánchez-Monedero et al. 2020). Still, the implementation of these tenets in daily operations requires alertness as well as thoughtfulness. One of the most prevalent dangers is stereotyping in many ways. It could be about concluding that people with physical impairments do not have any mental capabilities or believing that women are bad drivers (Cole 2022). These stereotypes perpetuate discriminatory perceptions that stifle efforts aimed at attaining genuinely inclusive healthcare settings.
Evaluating Effectiveness (3.2)
The efficiency of current systems and procedures within my particular area of responsibility requires a close examination. While training sessions and rules are important components, their influence may be limited due to informal power structures or policies that inadvertently promote prejudice (Enhanced Ltd 2019). The evaluation process must go beyond surface-level evaluations to consider the impact of formal and informal power relations (Enhanced Ltd 2019).
Power dynamics in healthcare may be complex, with formal structures represented by official levels and titles and informal structures from prominent team members who retain authority without official leadership designations. According to Posselt (2020), these informal power networks can subtly alter decision-making, influencing the implementation of equality and inclusion programs. Evaluating system success, therefore, requires a thorough grasp of power dynamics and their influence on implementing equality and diversity principles.
Proposing Improvements (3.3)
The first step to cultivating an atmosphere of constant growth is identifying any limitations or deficits in existing systems. It can also come up with policies that unintentionally discriminate against particular sections and conduct training that is not inclusive, among others (Elias and Paradies 2021). Moreover, proposing improvements is not merely identifying; it entails working with staff and service users. It is prudent to involve or consider other stakeholders to have an appropriate strategy to improve equality and inclusion.
Change proposals should be based on a participative approach that provides input from staff members and service recipients. In this regard, their inputs can be extremely useful as they give different viewpoints regarding real-world outcomes and suggest possible corrections (Enhanced Ltd 2019). Recommendations for changes need to be made concerning the specificities of the healthcare environment. Policies must fit the unique characteristics of the target patients’ population, and training needs to address practical work experience for healthcare providers like us we typically encounter daily. However, improvements should include consideration of the ramifications of both the official and unofficial power organisations, as well as transparency, openness, and freedom to discrimination in making choices.
Importance of Promoting Improvements
Examples of inappropriate, discriminatory procedures include first-hand observations from the healthcare environment. Nutbeam and Muscat (2021) offer that these cases negatively affected people’s health and well-being and undermined the trust among team members. In any health environment, trust must play a basic role in care delivery because it affects the standards of care and the team’s morale once it fails. Filling such gaps and shortcomings is important because they might hamper an organisational culture that appreciates a diverse outlook. Ac cording to Anderson et al. (2021), such discriminative practices do more than just hurt the victimised; they also bring down the image of the health organisation. In this time when people’s happiness plays a crucial role in determining the hospital’s fame, taking action to prevent discrimination is no longer just a moral requirement. Still, rather, it has become critical for success.
Conclusion
A thorough audit of organisational diversity, equality and inclusion frameworks that inform health care provision is prescribed by the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership for Health and Social Care and Children and Young People’s Services at the end. However, as is true with all existing legislations governing practice, these are foundational but require ongoing review and revision. This process involves analysing the possible nature of discrimination within these systems, assessing their effectiveness, and suggesting precise improvements considering the identified loopholes.
References
Anderson, M., O’Neill, C., Clark, J.M., Street, A., Woods, M., Johnston-Webber, C., Charlesworth, A., Whyte, M., Foster, M., Majeed, A. and Pitchforth, E., 2021. Securing a sustainable and fit-for-purpose UK health and care workforce. The Lancet, 397(10288), pp.1992-2011. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9634455/
Cole, M. ed., 2022. Education, equality and human rights: issues of gender,’race’, sexuality, disability and social class. Taylor & Francis. http://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/5959/1/233.pdf.pdf
Elias, A. and Paradies, Y., 2021. The costs of institutional racism and its ethical implications for healthcare. Journal of bioethical inquiry, 18, pp.45-58. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11673-020-10073-0
Enhanced Ltd. (2019) ‘Unit 3’ [PowerPoint presentation]. L5DHSC1: Unit 3: Champion equality, diversity and inclusion. Available at: www.mycourses.org.uk (Accessed: insert date here).
Nutbeam, D. and Muscat, D.M., 2021. Health promotion glossary 2021. Health Promotion International, 36(6), pp.1578-1598. https://www.naspa.org/files/dmfile/Health-Promotion-Definitions_2021.pdf
Posselt, J.R., 2020. Equity in science: Representation, culture, and the dynamics of change in graduate education. Stanford University Press. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=2CjwDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT5&dq=Power+dynamics+in+healthcare+may+be+complex,+with+formal+structures+represented+by+official+levels+and+titles,&ots=5NljCUGu0N&sig=ssNbw_4LP1oh52Kh2TK84L6uLR0
Sánchez-Monedero, J., Dencik, L. and Edwards, L., 2020, January. What does it mean to’solve’the problem of discrimination in hiring? Social, technical and legal perspectives from the UK on automated hiring systems. In Proceedings of the 2020 conference on fairness, accountability, and transparency (pp. 458-468). https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3351095.3372849
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