Our Equality & Inclusion Team supported development of a hot hub service managing COVID patients in Leicestershire.

Background
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland Clinical Commissioning Groups decided to secure services from a local provider to deliver a hot hub service that would:

• manage patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19
• build resilience in primary care during the pandemic and protect the workforce
• reduce presentations at the Emergency Department (ED)
• provide additional support in more locations.

Action
MLCSU’s Equality & Inclusion Team fully supported this development and gave expert advice.

We used the Equality, Health Inequality Impact & Risk Assessment (EHIIRA) process. EHIIRAs are a vital evidence-based tool designed to ensure that a decision, policy, project or scheme assesses the potential impact on people. Ultimately, everyone has a protected characteristic, and we need to ensure that staff and service users/public/patients are not disadvantaged or experiencing discrimination.

We held one-to-one support meetings, which were particularly important if it was someone’s first time completing an assessment. As well as providing advice, we signposted to extra data sources ad quality assured the assessments and process.

Impact

In light of the analysis undertaken, the service specification was updated to ensure that all providers would make reasonable adjustments for any patient that had been referred into the service.

The EHIIRA ensured that patients did not face negative impacts and discrimination and that the service was efficient and robust in meeting people’s needs.

The EHIIRA is being monitored to ensure the actions identified are implemented and any other possible issues raised will be considered for their impact.