THE OUTSTANDING DIVERSITY FORUM MARCH TOWARDS LONDON PRIDE

The Outstanding Society are delighted to announce that The Out Standing Diversity Forum are proudly marching in the London Pride in June 2024. AND EVERYONE IS INVITED.
The Out Standing Diversity Forum are particularly excited to be making its London Pride debut this year as LGBTQ+ history month’s theme was Medicine – #UnderTheScope, and aimed to celebrate LGBTQ+ people’s “contribution to the field of medicine and healthcare both historically and today” fitting perfectly with The OS’s mission to help everyone achieve outstanding care together.
OSDF are delighted that other organisations across the Social Care sector are in conversations about joining us, from The Care Quality Commission, Skills for Care, Championing Social Care and DHSC.

We expect uptake for our “march with us” tickets to be snapped up very quickly so we have set up an
Eventbrite to “register your interest”. People who have registered interest will be alerted first when the tickets are available. NB: Everyone LGBTQ+ and allies are welcome, though we will prioritise ticket requests from those within the Rainbow family should we be oversubscribed.

The House of Commons, Women and Equalities Committee, Health and Social Care and LGBT Communities, First Report of Session 2019 was, by its own admission, “a clarion call to the health and social care sector” to improve. The report stated:
“We have found that too few health and social care providers are actively thinking about LGBT people when they plan their services and that senior leaders are not doing enough to ensure that LGBT-inclusion is hardwired into commissioning strategies. This problem filters all the way down to training, where medics of the future are not taught how to provide LGBT-inclusive treatment. While few people set out to discriminate, training currently sends the message that sexual orientation and gender identity are not relevant to providing “person-centred care”. We have heard that for many witnesses that it is, in fact, essential. At the moment, there seems to be neither the leadership necessary to ensure services are designed to be LGBT-inclusive nor swift enough improvements among staff on the ground”
We want to be part of the push for that improvement.

Sanjay Dhrona Director of The Outstanding Society and Managing Director of The Close Care Home said:
I know the sector is challenged by the complexities around understanding, celebrating and facilitating diversity in their teams and for their residents. As we come up to pride month – LGBTQ+ issues will be at the forefront of many people minds and if your aren’t from the Rainbow Family sometimes, understanding the challenges and LGBTQ+ person can face in your service or setting can be tough. The work of the Out Standing Diversity Forum, the first ever cross sector LGBTQ+ network, will be to create a home for best practice around DE&I and share this through The Outstanding Society. Our first pride is an opportunity to identify those stakeholders in the sector who are aligned with our mission and vision and we hope to be the vanguard of progress for our teams and residents

We’re delighted to also announce that The Outstanding Diversity Forum has been sponsored by Virgin Money.
Virgin Money have a dedicated Health & Social Care Team headed by Derek Breingan, set up to assist organisations in the health and social care sector. Their customers include Aged, specialist and child care facilities, Real estate and development finance, Dentists and dental practices, Hospitals and medical centres, Pharmacists and pharmacies, Doctors and medical practices. They also support Championing Social Care, and The National Care Association.

Derek Breingan said: “With the significant impact that social care has in our communities, and the diversity within them , Virgin Money Health & Social Care Team is delighted to be able to support the Outstanding Diversity Forum in order to help promote its aims and inclusion and sustainability in the sector”.

You can find out more about The Outstanding Diversity Forum and register your interest here: OS Forum – The Outstanding Society

And if you’d like to be part of The Outstanding Society you can sign up for a FREE membership on our
website here: contact – The Outstanding Society . And remember, you DO NOT have to be rating Outstanding by CQC to join. You simply have to want to get there and help others to get there too.