Discrimination & equality

We provide MiP members with one-to-one advice, support and representation, and publish articles designed to raise awareness and understanding of the issues around diversity and discrimination. Over the coming months, we will also be publishing a set of advice notes on how to respond to common problems – including incidents of discrimination or accusations of prejudice: to receive alerts when we publish new texts, sign up for our email bulletins in the box on the right.

React carefully

If you experience discrimination or prejudice in the workplace – whether due to your gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, age or sexual orientation – then it's your right to have the incident investigated and resolved. And there's clear evidence that BME staff are disproportionately likely to be subject to formal disciplinary procedures on the basis of poor performance or malpractice; MiP always considers these issues when supporting members facing a disciplinary process.

On the other side of this coin, if you're accused of discriminatory behaviour then it's your employer's duty to investigate fairly, and to protect the innocent from having their careers damaged by unsubstantiated or malicious allegations.

Your initial reaction to discrimination – or allegations of discrimination – is important, and may help define the course of any subsequent formal investigations or disciplinary processes. It's important that observers don't draw the conclusion that your position is motivated by personal animosities or unreasonable perspectives on others' behaviour; so react carefully, and immediately contact your national officer.

We'll soon be publishing a set of advice notes that explain your rights as an employee, and provide guidance on how best to protect yourself in the immediate aftermath of an incident or accusation of prejudice.

Exploring the issues

MiP regularly publishes articles on diversity and equality issues  – you can read the latest ones below. These are designed to raise public awareness of the issues around equalities in health and social care delivery, both for staff and patients; to illustrate and explore the kinds of problems that staff can face, providing guidance on how to react; and to push policymakers and employers towards reforms that will help tackle the problem.

We also play an active role in forums and organisations that work to improve the quality of advice and information on equalities issues – including the NHS Leadership Academy and the Health & Social Care BME Network. Our Diversity & Equality page provides a fuller explanation of the principles underlying our work, our campaigning activities, and our contribution to policy-making and organisational reforms.

If you'd like to get involved in our work on equalities issues, please contact our head office.