1. Why fair treatment is everyone’s job

This series

Treating people fairly is a GDC Standard, a CQC expectation of person-centred care, and (in Great Britain) a duty under the Equality Act 2010. This dedicated series is two 1-hour modules (2 hours). This is module 1. GDC Development Outcomes A, B and D.

Suggested study time

• Duty, language, and why posters are not enough — 18 min
• Protected characteristics and who is covered — 20 min
• Types of discrimination in the practice — 17 min
• Knowledge check — 5 min

What EDI is for

Equality means people are not treated worse because of who they are. Diversity means the patient list and the team will not all look or live the same. Inclusion means the service is actually usable — booking, buildings, language, and how we speak in the surgery — not a slogan on the website.

GDC and CQC

GDC Standards require you to treat patients with dignity, not to discriminate, and to put patients’ interests first. CQC looks at whether care is person-centred and whether leaders deal with unfair treatment. A zero-complaint figure achieved by never writing anything down is not evidence of fairness.

This is not “being political”

It is how you take a medical history from someone who is hard of hearing, book an interpreter, and stop a joke in the staff room that a colleague cannot safely challenge. Poor EDI shows up as missed appointments, incomplete consent, and staff who leave.

Patients and colleagues

The same law that protects patients also protects staff. Harassment from a patient toward a nurse is still harassment. Harassment from a principal toward an associate is still harassment. Named leads and a written process matter for both.