Declarations

Our Board wholeheartedly commit to the creation of a more inclusive and accepting society for our colleagues and the people who use our services.

We will continue to promote inclusivity and tackle discrimination.

As a Trust, we are committed to promoting inclusivity, seeking out and confronting discrimination.

We recognise the importance of taking a stand against any form of discrimination. As highlighted by the events in the United States of America, and the subsequent global protests by Black Lives Matter. We will learn from this and the experiences of people nationally and locally to implement change in our organisation and beyond.

Our network of BAME colleagues

We are working to develop a network of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) colleagues. This will allow us to have more insight into their lives, the challenges they face, and how this can affect their health, safety, wellbeing, economic prosperity, and life opportunities.

These are important issues and we will do our absolute best to address these and other similar matters as they are brought to our attention.

Our promise

We will listen to the voices of our communities to understand the root of issues. We will work together to agree what changes are needed and how we take these forward. In this way we will make the transformation required for us all to be valued, equal members of an accepting, inclusive society.

For further information about the BAME network or any other issues, email our BAME network team.

This Trust is committed to eliminating fraud and corruption within the NHS, freeing up public resources for better patient care.

To this end, the Trust employs a Specialist Counter Fraud Service to provide a comprehensive programme against fraud and corruption which is overseen by the Trust’s Audit Committee.

The Trust fully complies with all anti-fraud and corruption legislation, the Bribery Act 2010, and has a zero-tolerance approach to fraud and bribery.

It is a criminal offence to give, promise or offer a bribe, and to request, agree to receive, or accept a bribe. A bribe may take the form of any financial or other advantage to another person in order to induce a person to perform improperly.

Although the Bribery Act permits hospitality, all staff are required to consider on an individual basis whether accepting any hospitality offered is appropriate and should they then elect to take it, to record it within the Trust’s hospitality register (in line with our conflicts of interest policy) so that it has been fully disclosed.

It is also important that all our contractors and agents comply with our policies and procedures.

When entering into contracts with organisations the Trust follows the NHS standard terms and conditions of contract for the purchase of goods and supplies.

We ask all who have dealings with the Trust, as employees, agents, trading partners, stakeholders, and patients, to help us in our fight against fraud and corruption and to contact us immediately.

If you have any concerns or suspicions we need to know about, the Trust’s nominated counter fraud specialist can be contacted in confidence:

• call 07775 417 508 or 01872 25 8057
• email Byron Kevern

All genuine suspicions of fraud and corruption can also be reported to the NHS Fraud and Corruption Reporting Line on freephone 0800 028 40 60, again in strict confidence.

The Board is assured that the following requirements are in place in line with the recommendations of the Care Quality Commission to ensure that systems and processes are in place to safeguard children and young people:

• meets all statutory requirements in relation to the Disclosure and Barring Service
• has a child protection policy in place that meets with the requirements of Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018
• has a process in place that meets with the standards agreed by NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board to ensure all children who are not brought to appointments are followed up and safeguarding issues
• has a safeguarding training programme which ensures compliance with the Intercollegiate document 2014 and compliance is monitored internally and by NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board
• the named nurse for the Trust, Zoe Cooper, is in place to fulfil the requirements as detailed in Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018 and the named doctor is Dr Adrian Flynn
• the Board-level executive lead with the responsibility for safeguarding is Kim O'Keeffe, Director of Nursing and Allied Health Professionals
• the Board receives annual updates from the named nurse

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The local safeguarding children board is the statutory body responsible for protecting children and young people from significant harm and for promoting their welfare.

We are committed to ensuring our patients receive care in environments that support their privacy and dignity. It’s important we offer the best possible experience to our patients.

We are pleased to confirm that we are compliant with the government’s requirement to eliminate mixed-sex accommodation, except when it is in the patient’s overall best interest or reflects their personal choice.

We have the necessary facilities, resources, and culture to ensure patients who are admitted to our hospitals have access to same-sex accommodation. This means all patients who stay in our hospital facilities will have their own single bedroom, with an ensuite bathroom.

If our care should fall short of the required standard, we will report it. We will also set up an audit mechanism to make sure that we do not misclassify any of our reports. We will publish the results of that audit at our Board meeting.

• Single sex accommodation annual report 2020-21 (PDF, 117 KB).

What is mixed-sex accommodation?

Mixed-sex accommodation is where patients of opposite gender have to share either sleeping accommodation, toilets, or washing facilities.

What do we mean by same-sex accommodation?

Same sex accommodation can be provided in:

• single-sex wards, where the whole ward is occupied by men or women only in single rooms
• mixed wards, where men and women are in separate bays or rooms

Separate toilet and washing facilities for men and women should also be provided, preferably within or next to the bay or room. Patients should not need to pass through opposite-sex accommodation or toilet and washing facilities to access their own.

As part of our commitment to ensuring the views of staff are represented, we have a number of union representatives. These are either full-time roles or are undertaken in addition to the individual’s full-time (equivalent) role in the organisation. Full details are set out below.

• Number of employees who were union officials: 11
• Full-time equivalent number: 1.43
• % of time spent on facility time:
  • 0% = 0
  • 1% to 50% = 10
  • 51% to 99% = 0
  • 100% = 1
• Total cost of facility time: £46,910
• Total pay bill: £123,667,000
• % of pay bill spent on facility time: 0.04%
• Paid Trade Union activities: 100%