Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Statement
Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
At Harlington Hospice, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is central to who we are and how we care. We are committed to providing compassionate, inclusive and equitable palliative and end of life care to everyone in our community, and to fostering a workplace where every member of staff and volunteer feels respected, valued and supported.
We embrace diversity in all its forms and actively work to remove barriers so that people of all cultures, ethnicities, faiths, sexual orientations, gender identities, ages and abilities can access exceptional care and support.
Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion statement
Here at Harlington Hospice, we respect and embrace diversity in all forms and ensure equality of access to our outstanding palliative and end-of-life care across all our services to all who need it. We are proud to work with and care for people from all cultural, racial and religious backgrounds and all sexual and gender identities.
Putting EDI into practice
We recognise that inclusion is not a statement but a continuous practice. Our work focuses on learning, reflection and meaningful action across our services and workforce.
Inclusive learning and reflective practice
EDI learning is embedded into our mandatory training for staff and volunteers. This includes our ongoing programme of Social GGRRAAACCEEESSS sessions, which are delivered across hospice sites and form part of staff induction.
Social GGRRAAACCEEESSS is a reflective framework that helps individuals explore visible and invisible aspects of identity, power and privilege. It supports our teams to remain curious, avoid assumptions and provide care that is respectful of each person’s lived experience.
Advancing equity in care and support
Neurodiversity and grief
We are actively developing more neuro-inclusive services in response to growing need. Our Psychological and Emotional Services team has led research into neurodiversity and grief, with findings published in 2025.
This work has informed:
- Neuro-affirmative practice within our services
- Training programmes for staff and volunteers
- A pilot project with schools to improve understanding of neurodivergent experiences of grief
- Sharing learning across hospice teams to improve accessibility and care quality
Our Neurodiversity and Grief research poster was awarded first place by Hospice UK and featured in the British Medical Journal of Palliative Care, highlighting our commitment to evidence-informed inclusive practice.
Building an inclusive workforce
We are committed to creating a fair and inclusive culture for everyone who works with us. Our Workforce Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Plan sets out practical actions to support this, including:
- Reviewing workforce and volunteer demographics
- Embedding EDI principles across policies and communications
- Encouraging the use of inclusive language and pronouns
- Benchmarking our approach with other hospices
- Providing interpreted and accessible training opportunities
- Reviewing diversity across volunteering and fundraising activities
Ongoing accountability and improvement
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at Harlington Hospice is an ongoing journey. We regularly review progress against our action plan, listen to feedback from staff, volunteers and service users, and adapt our approach to reflect the needs of our community.
We are committed to learning, transparency and continuous improvement, ensuring that inclusion remains at the heart of everything we do.
If you feel, for any reason, that Harlington Hospice isn’t a place that will support you if you needed help – or if you are working with groups of people often excluded from health and care services – please get in touch info@harlingtonhospice.org.
