As the national provider of children’s hospice care in Scotland, CHAS has a duty to ensure its services are open, accessible and culturally competent for all. In the past, departments worked in silos when it came to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), resulting in small successes that were often short-lived. At times, wider organisational barriers prevented some really positive work from being sustainable.

EDI is a way of thinking which will not only widen our clinical reach, but drive improvement and innovation through broader perspectives and diverse thinking. To achieve success, it was critical that we worked collaboratively across departments, integrating and embedding EDI in all that we do.

Fundraising, volunteering and care colleagues came together under the leadership of the Director of Transformation and Innovation to develop an EDI strategy that underpins the CHAS strategy. This new EDI strategy was championed by the Senior Leadership Team and we are now in the process of developing action plans across departments to realise change across CHAS. EDI spans every area of our work, from facilities to nursing and from donor care to recruitment.

Taking an organisational approach demonstrates our commitment to achieving lasting change. Championed by staff who are passionate about EDI, the case for change was clearly presented and understood by senior leaders and the Board.

Change will not happen overnight. However, we now have a clear framework to drive the organisation forward. We know that taking EDI seriously will develop CHAS in so many ways. We want to harness diversity to drive performance and reach as many families in Scotland as possible and are keen to showcase to other organisations that embedding EDI in a meaningful way can be both practical and achievable.