People and communities are always at the centre of how care is planned and delivered. The health and care needs of people and communities are understood and they are actively involved in planning care that meets these needs. Care, support and treatment is easily accessible, including physical access. People can access care in ways that meet their personal circumstances and protected equality characteristics.

People, those who support them, and staff can easily access information, advice and advocacy. This supports them in managing and understanding their care and treatment. There is partnership working to make sure that care and treatment meets the diverse needs of communities. People are encouraged to give feedback, which is acted on and used to deliver improvements.

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Equity in access

• We ensure care and treatment is always accessible, timely and in line with best practice. Where physical, digital or communication barriers exist, we support people to overcome these.
• We can evidence how we ensure equal access to care is available to the different individuals we support. This removes barriers, delays, and protects people’s rights.
• We support people to ensure that all services that they access make reasonable adjustments, including our own. Where adjustments have been made, we can evidence how these have benefitted the individual(s).
• Our manager and staff have a good understanding of obstacles to timely care and how to navigate these. This includes how discrimination and inequality can disadvantage different groups.
• We are able to identify and escalate any unnecessary blockages in the system to minimise delays.
• We ensure the people we support and fully inform about progress related to their ongoing care and support, including appointment schedules and associated actions.
• We work closely with our partners and the wider system to minimise the impact of cancellations delaying people receiving timely care.
• Where appropriate to our service, we can provide evidence of how we have made adjustments to ensure our premises are fully accessible to people’s individual needs.
• We are suitably resourced and equipped to challenge ineffective parts of the wider health and social care system to enable people to receive more responsive care.
• We collate and review feedback from people’s experiences to inform how we might address future barriers for them and others.

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