Achieving our goal of ‘20,000 satisfied members by 2034’ reflects not only growth in actual numbers but also growth in the diversity and make up of our membership.
Our members are telling us they want the profession to be more diverse, they want our services to be accessible and they all want to feel included.
We need to be proactively addressing inequity in access to education, training, events and opportunities. By being responsive to the diversity and inclusion our members are looking for we will deliver greater satisfaction to our membership. Progress against the actions highlighted below will be shared with members at least annually.
The BDA’s EDI Statement:
“The BDA will seek to ensure fair and equal outcomes for all members, including fair representation and equity of access to services and participation.
We will seek to protect the rights of all to be treated with dignity and respect regardless of personal characteristics.
We will promote equity of opportunity for the dietetic profession and work to remove barriers to career progression.”
The BDA’s role in equity, diversity and inclusion is multifaceted:
As a Trade Union
We are committed to ensuring equal treatment of our members in representation, collective bargaining and participation within the trade union, at work and in the community.
We are here to represent and support our members when things are not fair or equal and to campaign to protect and enhance legal protections for all workers.
By 2034 members will not feel marginalised due to their protected characteristics at work or within their union and will have equality of opportunity in all activities. We will provide appropriate support to ensure members working in all areas, specialities and roles feel included.
By 2027 we will have:
- Played a leading role in the work of the health unions and the TUC to end discrimination and harassment in both the workplace and wider society through continued membership of the TUC Women’s Committee and the Equality Officers Network along with representing the BDA on the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Group of the NHS Staff Council.
- Sent delegations to the Black, Disabled, LGBT+ and Women’s Conferences in order to contribute to policy development.
- Trained our trade union representatives on EDI and recruited a network of trade union equality reps.
- Filled all reserved equality seats on TUNEC.
- TU networks for Black, Disabled, LGBT+ and Women members.
As a Membership Organisation
We have a responsibility to ensure our services are accessible to all and there is equity of opportunity for participation in the BDA, in governance, volunteering, learning and all aspects of our work.
We will support members to deliver inclusive practice, to be equipped to not only deliver services that are inclusive, but to have the skills and tools to call out inequality and inequity when they see it and the courage to champion causes that matter.
By 2034 all of our members will feel the BDA is their organisation, and that they belong.
By 2027 we will:
- Benchmark and measure the increase in the diversity of our membership and access to our services, identifying issues and addressing inappropriate trends.
- Report event and service access trends to the BDA Board via the EDI Committee.
- Have completed the EDI Committee’s work on student placements and will be implementing recommendations to support each student to have a positive, inclusive experience.
- Be producing material in accessible formats as standard.
- Review our current volunteering offer to identify how we can make it more accessible.
As a Professional Body
As a professional body the BDA needs to ensure the workforce of the future reflects and is equipped to deliver dietetic services competently and confidently to our diverse population. We need to ensure our leaders and leadership opportunities reflect diversity and inclusion.
We must actively promote the profession to people from diverse backgrounds and work to achieve more diverse representation within the profession and improve access to higher education and pre-registration training for people from all backgrounds.
Beyond tertiary education, we have a responsibility to ensure equity of opportunity for each and every member (and future members) of the dietetic workforce. This includes ensuring our policies and funding decisions at the governance level are transparent, robust and inclusive.
By 2034 we want to be a profession of choice for people from all backgrounds and be a welcoming, inclusive profession to belong to.
By 2027 we will:
- Include EDI impact assessments for all Board policies (from 2025.)
- Have included positive action to attract a further three to five members each year with Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds or who identify with other protected characteristics through our Future Leaders programme, to develop our directors of the future.
- Have an active EDI Committee with strong links to all aspects of BDA governance and include an EDI Committee representative on the BDA Board.
- Include EDI committee representatives on each of the BDA Honours, Selection, and Professional Committees and the General Education Trust (GET).
- Have a policy in place to ensure research conducted under the BDA’s GET grant schemes gives appropriate consideration to increasing diversity within clinical trials and promoting diversity in the researcher population.
- Have tools in place to support our specialist groups to reflect our EDI approach in their work.
- Have implemented policies and procedures to tackle and prevent racism and sexual harassment in relation to our members and staff.
As a socially responsible organisation
We have a duty to use our voice and influence to promote fair and equal treatment of all, to celebrate diversity and encourage our community to celebrate.
We must have the courage, and encourage our staff and members, to speak up and declare when things are not fair and equitable and when we see discrimination.
We will proactively work with and influence partners including government agencies, universities, other AHPs and commercial partners to share lessons learned, align policies and implement best practice.
By 2034 the BDA will be actively championing and celebrating diversity and challenging inequality and inequity.
By 2027 we will:
- Include EDI training for all staff within three months of joining the organisation and provide a compulsory annual refresher for all staff.
- Assess values aligning with EDI within the recruitment process.
- Establish links between the BDA EDI Committee and those of other allied health profession associations and trade unions.
- Have grown our active campaigns to champion underrepresented people within the profession.
- Include visual imagery that reflects a broad and inclusive profession.
- Ensure those partners we work with have EDI statements and plans to deliver on them.
- Be publicly accountable by publishing EDI specific data and achievements in our Annual Report including an annual equal pay audit across gender, race and disability.
- Follow recruitment and retention approaches to prioritise equity and diversity.
As individuals
We must work on understanding and challenging our own assumptions, biases and prejudices.
By 2034 we want all staff and directors to be aware of our assumptions, biases and prejudices and be confident that we can challenge ourselves, our colleagues and stakeholders in an open manner to do better. We will be active in our support for people of all backgrounds and cultures.
By 2027 we will:
- Review the Code of Conduct to ensure it captures the behaviours expected of all members.
- Review the internal BDA staff appraisal system to proactively ask staff to reflect on their inclusivity and provide additional training for those who feel they need it.