To illustrate the excellent value we can offer, we'd like to tell you about a recent assignment we carried out in a South East based NHS Foundation Trust.

In November 2007, the Trust declared that it had failed to meet the Healthcare Commission's Standard C7e to challenge discrimination, promote equality and respect human rights.  It could not demonstrate full-year compliance and was struggling to be year-end compliant.

Vincent Hodges was engaged by the Trust because of his extensive experience in Equality and Diversity, his ability to set up Equality and Diversity processes and, most importantly, his ability to deliver quickly without compromising on quality.

Vincent faced a number of difficult challenges.  All the Trust had in place were Equality Schemes for race, disability and gender that had become dormant.  The Trust also had no Equality Impact Assessment framework or governance in place and lacked a strategic or corporate approach.  There was minimal embedment of Equality and Diversity across the hospital and limited internal capability across the senior, middle and junior managers within the organisation.

Vincent produced a report detailing exactly where the Trust stood and what it needed to do to gain year-end compliance and reap the benefits of a more inclusive organisation.  He then broke the project down into manageable sections to ensure quick wins were made early on.

By the end of his tenure, Vincent had enabled a transformation in how Equality and Diversity was perceived within the Trust.  His achievements included:

• Designing and implementing a framework for Equality Impact Assessments including templates and guidance.
• Carrying out initial and full Equality Impact Assessments on clincal, non-clincial and support services.
• Publishing an employment workforce report meeting the requirements of the Race Equality Duty.
• Achieving 86% compliance from Managers at the end of the 2^nd quarter for completed Equality Impact Assessments.

As a direct result of Vincent's work, the Trust was able to declare year-end compliance of C07e within 2.5 months of him starting the assignment.

By the end, the Trust also had a draft Single Equality and Human Rights Scheme and a corporate approach to Equality and Diversity linked to the business strategy for years ahead.

The HR Director had this to say about Vincent:

"Vincent started work in the Foundation Trust when it was under considerable pressure to deliver significant improvements in its management of Equality and Diversity.  He identified the issues to be addressed very quickly and needed minimal direction and supervision in designing and implementing tangible improvements in a number of areas.

"He adapted his approach to fit the culture of the organisation and avoided a purist view that would not have been successful.  Vincent's work has made a significant difference to the Trust and provided us with a firm foundation for further work."