CQC's commitment to equality in the workplace recognised by Stonewall

Leading gay, lesbian and bisexual rights charity Stonewall has recognised CQC's commitment to equality in the workplace by placing it in the top 100 UK employers in the Stonewall Equality Workplace index for the first time.

The top 100 list is based on the results of Stonewall's Workplace Equality Index 2015, the eleventh published by the charity. The index is based on a range of key indicators which include a confidential questionnaire of lesbian, gay and bisexual staff, with over 9,700 participants. This consistently revealed that employees from organisations ranked in Stonewall's Top 100 exhibited higher levels of staff satisfaction and loyalty. CQC has been placed 94 in the index, a rise of 17 places from a ranking of 111 last year. Over 800 employers took part in the index.

David Behan, Chief Executive of CQC said:
"We know that people perform better when they can be themselves. Staff who can be open about themselves are more likely to enjoy going to work, form honest relationships with colleagues, will be more confident and, ultimately, more productive. This is as true for us as it is for the services we regulate. I have no doubt  that people who are comfortable at work will deliver better care.

"We are pleased to have progressed and been named in Stonewall's top 100. This outcome reflects a sustained programme of work and continued activity around the LGBT agenda by our network and senior leadership within the Commission. I want to thank all involved for their continued hard work."

Professor Steve Field, Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and senior sponsor for the LGBT Network in CQC, said:
"I am incredibly proud of the continued activity by the network to promote the LGBT agenda. Equality, diversity and human rights are at the heart of everything we do as a regulator.

"In a world where two thirds of LGBT people who go into care go back into the closet when they do, our work in promoting  LGBT equality becomes more important than ever."

John Scott, chair of CQC's LGBT network, said:
"As a network, and as an organisation, we've worked incredibly hard to promote equal rights in CQC, and making it into the top 100 is testament to that. We'll keep working hard to make CQC an even better employer for LGBT staff in the future."

Simon Feeke, Director of Workplace Programmes at Stonewall, said:
"The Care Quality Commission and every single employer who secured a position on the Stonewall Top 100 Employers 2015 list performed remarkably this year. Competition has never been fiercer and the new criteria this year has pushed all of the Top 100 to work harder than ever before."

For further information on the Workplace Equality Index visit www.stonewall.org.uk/WEI2015,  or follow the conversation on Twitter and Facebook using #WEI2015.