Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report 2025-2026

Foreward

This report outlines our achievements for 2025-26 and gives a snapshot of the progress we have made as a Trust in advancing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. A key highlight over the last 18 months has been our commitment to work in partnership across the healthcare system in advancing equality and developing equitable solutions. We have made a firm commitment to enhancing our data collection efforts and this work will continue throughout 2026 and beyond. This will help us to gain an accurate understanding of our position, both as an individual Trust and as a System. It will also enable us to continue to implement meaningful and positive changes based on reliable and accurate data.

Despite the challenges that we have faced in the last year, including hospital delays and cost savings, we have remained committed in embedding Equality, Inclusion and Diversity throughout the business of the organisation and have continued to make progress by expanding our Chaplaincy service and strengthening our staff networks. We also continue to collect the Ethnicity Pay Gap data which also informs the Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) action plan and plan to collect the Disability Pay Gap going forward. Further we collected the Gender Pay Gap data and produced an action plan and collectively delivered on the Workforce Race and Disability Action plans. For the duration of this report, we have seen an increase in the number of Black Minority Ethnic (BME) employees, staff with disabilities and female staff. We recognise that there is still much more to be done to increase these numbers for BME and Disability to match the population profile, however the upward trajectory is welcome. There have been significant improvements in reducing the gender pay gap in the last two years as compared to previous years and this is something that staff at WMAS have been working extremely hard to address in the past few years and we are now seeing the results of interventions put in place. As an organisation we are proud of our commitment to make our service accessible to all in the communities that we serve. We are continuously working hard in providing the very best work experience and environment for our staff and have held several recruitment and health and well-being events throughout the year, bringing staff together and sharing our varied and wonderful diversity which has been educational, and which has enriched our understanding of different cultures and faiths. We have the Diversity Champions and the Chaplaincy service to support our staff, recognising the diversity of staff needs.

The Trust serves a population of 5.6 million people covering an area of more than 5,000 square miles made up of Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Coventry, Birmingham, and Black Country conurbation.

The West Midlands is full of contrasts and diversity. It includes the second largest urban area in the country (Birmingham, Solihull, and the Black Country) yet over 80% of the area is rural. We are the second most ethnically diverse region in the country after London which makes it vital that we work closely with the many different communities we serve. Ensuring we listen and respond to their suggestions and comments ensures that our service meets the needs of everyone in the region.

As the region’s emergency ambulance service, we respond to around 4,200 ‘999’ calls each day. To manage that level of demand, we employ over 7000 staff and operate from 15 fleet preparation hubs across the region, and two 999 Emergency Operations Centres. We also provide non-emergency patient transport services across the region for those patients who require non-emergency transport to and from hospital and who are unable to travel unaided because of their medical condition or clinical need. Our staff complete just under 1 million non-emergency patient journeys each year.

Many people still think ambulance services only take patients to hospital. In fact, only just over 50% of our patients end up going to an emergency department with the rest either being treated at the scene or in their home, given advice over the phone or taken to another service such as a GP or minor injuries unit. We have achieved that by investing heavily in the skills that our staff have. We are the first Trust in the country to have a paramedic on every vehicle and continue to operate this delivery model.

Our Diversity and Inclusion vision is centred around three pillars

1. to build a diverse pipeline of people into WMAS as well as valuing diversity of thought and experience of our existing staff.
2. to create an inclusive workplace for all and
3. to reflect diversity in the delivery of our service to the diverse communities we serve.

West Midlands Ambulance Service is committed to fostering an inclusive culture that ensures fair access for patients and a supportive environment for staff, compliant with the Equality Act 2010. Equality Diversity and Inclusion frameworks, as detailed in this report, are essential to ensure excellent outcomes for all our patients, and ensure staff feel valued.

Director of People – Carla Beechey

Chief Executive – Anthony Marsh

Diversity and Inclusion Lead – Mohammed Ramzan

Executive Summary

Introduction

This Annual Report will highlight our achievements during the past year. The Trust has a statutory responsibility to publish the Public Sector Annual Equality report. This report provides information about the work we are doing and what we have achieved over the previous year. The report demonstrates the compliance with the Public-Sector Equality Duty (PSED). Further, the report will highlight some of the key achievements over the year and include information and progress on projects including Equality Delivery System 3 report and grading, the Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) data and action plan, the Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) and the Gender Pay Gap. For three years running we have been collecting the Ethnicity Pay Gap data and in the last two years, the Trust has been working closely with The Black Country ICS EDI People Priorities, and the Chief Executive has pledged to Improve data collection and analysis. The Trust will be looking to work closely with the Integrated Care System and Board in the Development and implementation of action plans related to Ethnicity, Gender and Disability action plans.

The report also provides a brief on our performance in regulatory compliance and our commitment to promoting a culture of inclusion for patients and staff through our vision for the future. This report will provide evidence on our commitment in meeting the Public-Sector Equality Duty (PSED) in the need to give due regard to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between different people when carrying out our activities.

Some elements of the report are mandatory in relation to workforce data under the Specific Duty and Equality Objectives.

The Trust also understands the importance of a workplace that reflects the communities we serve, which is known to provide better quality patient care.

Core Services

Our Services

Emergency and urgent

This is the most-known part of the Trust and deals with the emergency and urgent patients. The Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) answers and assesses calls for 999. EOC will identify the most appropriate ambulance crew or responder to the patient or reroute the call to our Clinical Validation Team staffed by experienced clinicians (paramedics or nurses) who are able to clinically assess and give appropriate advice.

Over the past few years, the EOC has expanded considerably to manage the volume of calls, especially in response to the COVID pandemic. Where necessary, patients are conveyed by ambulance to an Accident and Emergency Department or other NHS facility for further assessment and treatment. Additionally, they can refer the patient to their GP where appropriate.

Non-emergency Patient Transport Service (PTS)

As well as dealing with ‘999’ emergency calls, West Midlands Ambulance Service plays a key role in the transportation of non-emergency patient transport service, taking patients to renal dialysis, oncology, out-patient appointments including discharge and transfers. We complete in the region of one million non-emergency Patient Transport Service (PTS) journeys each year.

We have contracts in Birmingham, Black Country, Coventry & Warwickshire as well as throughout Cheshire, Warrington, and Wirral. The majority are commissioned by NHS Integrated Care Boards and tendered on a competitive commercial contract basis.

The Trust employs nearly 900 PTS staff using more than 350 vehicles to get patients to and from their hospital appointments throughout the region and beyond, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The journeys are booked and coordinated by dedicated control rooms based in Stafford, Coventry, Warrington and Frankley.

Emergency Preparedness

This part of the organisation deals with the Trust’s planning and response to significant and major incidents within the region as well as coordinating a response to large gatherings such as football matches, festivals, and major events. It also aligns all the Trust’s Specialist assets and Operations into a single structure. Examples of their assets include the staff, equipment, and vehicles from the Hazardous Area Response Team (HART), Air Operations, Decontamination staff and the Mobile Emergency Response Incident Team (MERIT).

The Trust constantly arranges training for staff and ensures the Trust understands and acts upon intelligence and identified risks to ensure we keep the public safe in terms of major incidents. The Trust is supported by a network of Volunteers. More than 500 people from all walks of life give up their time to help.

Community First Responders

Community First Responders (CFRs) are always backed up by the Ambulance Service but there is no doubt that their early intervention has saved the lives of many people in our communities. WMAS is also assisted by voluntary organisations such as BASICS doctors, water-based Rescue Teams, and organisations.

Importance of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion for the Trust

Our Commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

We believe in fairness and equity, and value diversity in our role as both a provider of services and as an employer. Our staff and patients are all different, and ‘one size does not fit all’. In WMAS we aim to make sure our work and the services provided are fair and meet local needs.

We have identified the following five key themes which we believe are vital ingredients for a fair and equitable service:

Improved Patient Care and Safety

EDI ensures that care is tailored to individual needs, improving outcomes for patients regardless of their background and It helps eliminate biases that could affect diagnosis or treatment. In this regard we collate, identify and code incidents that may occur whilst our staff are delivering emergency care in the community and this is shared with the EDI lead and colleagues to identify trends with the aim of improving services. We also have a dedicated interpreting and translation service which staff have access to for patients with communication needs enabling us to deliver appropriate care which is tailored to individual need.

Accessible Services

It guarantees that all patients, families, and carers have equitable, fair access to emergency and urgent care.

Diverse and Representative Workforce

A diverse staff, including in leadership, brings a wider range of skills and perspectives, which improves decision-making and innovation within the service.

Staff Retention and Motivation

A supportive, inclusive environment reduces bullying and discrimination, making staff feel safe and valued, which is crucial for retaining staff.

Legal Compliance

Alongside our vision statement, we are required under the Equality Act 2010 to demonstrate that we are meeting our equality and diversity legal duties.

The Public-Sector Equality Duty (PSED) is part of the Equality Act 2010 and came into force in April 2011. This duty requires NHS organisations and other public bodies to:

• Comply with the General Equality Duty.
• Comply with the Specific Duty.
• Publish Equality Objectives every four years.

The general equality duty has three aims and requires us to have ‘due regard’ to:

1. Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimization and other conduct prohibited by the Act.
2. Advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.
3. Foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.

We expect all WMAS employees to fulfil their responsibilities and to challenge behaviour or practice that excludes or is offensive to service users, suppliers, or colleagues. WMAS continues to develop a healthcare workforce that is diverse, non-discriminatory, and appropriately skilled to deliver modern healthcare services to all.

Working in Partnership

Externally, the Trust works in collaboration with:

• Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE).
• Integrated Care Systems (ICSs).
• Local Authorities and Directors of Public Health.
• Regional and national ambulance networks.
• UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

Our Workforce

Our Workforce

WMAS is a dynamic organisation with over 7000 staff as of 31 March 2026. The organisation has robust policies and procedures in place which ensure that all staff are treated fairly and with dignity and respect. The Trust is committed to promoting equality of opportunity for all current and potential employees. The Trust is aware of the legal equality duties as a public sector employer and has equality and diversity training, at induction, in place for all staff.

The Trust opposes all forms of unlawful and unfair discrimination and will ensure that barriers to accessing services and employment are identified and removed, and that no person is treated less favourably on the grounds of their race, ethnic origin, sex, disability, religion or belief, age, sexual orientation, transgender status, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, domestic circumstances, caring responsibilities, or any other relevant factor.

The organisation realises that staff need to be representative of the local population. Therefore, continued briefing and training for recruiting managers, in partnership with human resources, will be crucial to address this gap and will form part of the equality action plan for 2026/27.

Dyslexia Friendly Workplace Award

West Midlands Ambulance Service has achieved the “Dyslexia Friendly Workplace” Silver award. This is a quality mark awarded by the British Dyslexia Association (BDA), which recognizes organisations for developing and implementing supportive practices for staff with dyslexia. Achieving this level demonstrates a significant commitment beyond initial steps, including awareness training, screening, and providing specialist advice.

What the Silver award signifies

A high level of commitment

The Silver award is a formal recognition that an organisation has established a more comprehensive system of support for neurodivergent employees, moving beyond the initial steps of the Bronze award.

Practical support in action

Organisations that achieve this have implemented concrete measures, such as:

• Providing specialist advice and one-to-one support for staff.
• Offering screening services to identify specific learning difficulties.
• Providing adjustments to training, assessments, and the recruitment process.

Leadership and expertise

By achieving the Silver award, an organization shows it is a leader in creating an inclusive environment, often working with experts to ensure its practices are effective.

A stepping stone for further achievement

For organisations like West Midlands Ambulance Service, the Silver award is a milestone on the way to achieving the Gold Quality Mark, demonstrating a progressive and ongoing commitment to neurodiversity in the workplace. We at WMAS are proud to have achieved the Silver milestone and hope to continue to improve going forward.

Organisational Development

Key events or activities between 1st April 2025 – 31st March 2026.

People Promise

In April 2024, the Trust appointed a People Promise Manager and became part of the People Promise Exemplar Programme and allowed us to be part of the wider programme of work within NHS England to improve staff experience and retention. A designated People Promise webpage and quarterly bulletin has been developed to promote the positive actions being taken by the Trust under each promise and to continue raising awareness of the People Promise. Our People Promise is now included on the Trust induction platform ‘Onboard with WMAS’ so our new starters are aware of our commitment to making WMAS a great place to work from their first day. The PP programme came to an end nationally in 2025 due to lack of funding. WMAS retained the People Promise Manager to continue the work started. The PP Manager continue to engage with staff and provides support in various workstreams such as Health and Wellbeing, Staff Retention, Sexual Safety, Civility and respect and the Staff Survey.

Career Conversations

Career conversations were carried out during the year with Band 6 and BAME staff in order to help people think through their career aspirations and how they may be supported. Uptake was very low but those who attended provided positive feedback and found it very useful. The OD team will continue to offer this service as part of the routine portfolio.

In addition, Developing Potential sessions continue to run throughout the year to support staff who have been identified as ‘developing potential’ through their annual Personal Development Conversation (PDC). Development opportunities and career conversations with staff are also provided on an individual basis upon request. This work is ongoing as part of the OD portfolio.

People Promise Drop-In Events

People Promise Drop In events were held throughout the autumn which provided an opportunity to engage with staff and promote the People Promise and Staff Survey. The events provided an opportunity for staff to have a 1:1 career conversation or seek information on topics such as employee benefits, flexible working, FTSU, SALS, Research, and our staff suggestion scheme. For 2026-27, the OD Team plans to join existing planned events and will continue to engage with staff and provide support for career development, coaching support, etc.

Long Service and Excellence Awards

The Trust’s annual long service awards ceremony took place on 12th June to recognise and celebrate our staff who completed 10 and 15 years’ service. Our annual Staff Long Service and Excellence awards took place on 13th June, rewarding staff with 20+ years’ service, and recognising other staff who have gone above and beyond the call of duty with special awards and commendations. On the same evening, the Trust held the Excellence in the Community Awards. This event recognises our volunteers for their long service along with members of the community for outstanding contributions. For 2026-27, the awards will take place in September, celebrating staff and their achievements for long years of service and going above and beyond the call of duty. The Excellence in the Community Awards will also take place in September.

Cultural Competency Framework and Toolkit

The Cultural Competency Framework and Toolkit has been reviewed with the help of internal stakeholders. The Framework will be reviewed and updated in June 2026.

Anti-Racism Development Sessions

Anti-Racism development sessions have been rolled out to all staff to reiterate the Trust’s zero tolerance approach to race discrimination and raise awareness of different forms of race discrimination. The sessions cover important topics such as race discrimination, microaggressions and understanding and valuing difference. The OD Team will continue to provide support for these workstreams.

NHS Staff Survey

The NHS Staff Survey was promoted through our ‘You said, We Listened’ campaign which focused on one area of the People Promise each week to remind staff of the actions being taken in response to their feedback. The campaign posters were displayed on TV screens at each Trust site as well as being published within the Weekly Briefing. Weekly results were shared via our Staff Survey Q&A channel and a live Q&A event was held on 7th November to allow staff the opportunity to ask any questions about the staff survey. The 2025 Staff Survey ran from 15th September to 29th November. 2989 staff took part in the survey giving the Trust a response rate of 42%. The results of the survey has been published in the public domain on 12th March and has been shared with all staff and senior management in the Trust. The People Voice Action Group and Staff Survey Locality Leads have worked together to build a Trust wide Action Plan for 2026. The Action plan will be rolled out over three years to give us enough time to make impactful improvements where required. Similarly, the Local Action Plans will roll out over three years. The Staff Survey Leads will work with staff to update the plan and continue with the work started last year.

Staff Survey Action Plan Feedback

Staff were given the opportunity to have their say by providing feedback on the Trust’s 2024 Staff Survey Action Plan to ensure our actions focussed on the right things and had a direct and meaningful impact on employee experience. All staff members who provided their feedback were included in a prize draw to win a new Kindle. An impact survey was carried out again between September and November last year. The results of the impact survey is being used to inform the Trust Action Plan and Local Action Plans.

Staff Survey Locality Leads

Expressions of interest for staff to become a Staff Survey Locality Lead were advertised in January 2025 to encourage more staff to become involved in making positive changes in their local area. A guidance document has also been developed to assist managers and staff survey leads to understand their Staff Survey results and to develop their local action plans. 43 staff survey locality leads have been appointed on a voluntary basis last year and they did a remarkable work in engaging with staff and getting their involvement with the local action plans. Meetings were held regularly to provide support to them through various challenges. The SSLLs met with the CEO in September 2025 to promote the positive work they are doing at each locality and share their local action plans. Another meeting is scheduled in April to share progress and new plans.

Female Focus Group

A female focus group was held on 18th December to help the Trust consider what needs to happen to support our female staff to join and progress within under-represented areas of the organisation. We continue to offer our ‘Springboard’ programme through CPD funding to support our female staff to build confidence and explore their careers. This is ongoing as part of the OD portfolio.

New Starter Focus Groups

New starter focus groups were held throughout November to hear from our new starters about their onboarding and probationary experience and identify areas for improvement. The People Promise Manager as been working with recruitment and HR to review these documents and processes. The work is ongoing.

‘Say Thank You’ App

A new ‘Say Thank You’ app has been developed, based on staff feedback, to encourage managers and staff to say thank you to each other and show recognition for good work. The app is now available on all Trust devices to make it quick and easy for staff to show their appreciation to one another. The app has been very well received across the Trust and is regularly used by staff and managers overall.

Staff Engagement Data

Data from various staff engagement platforms such as the NHS Staff Survey, People Pulse, WinningTemp and People Promise workstreams have been analysed to understand what is most important to our staff in the workplace and where we can make positive changes to employee experience. This is ongoing work as apart of the OD Portfolio.

Valuing Difference

Our ‘Valuing Difference’ module continues to be included in the Engaging Leaders and Engaging Managers Programmes to ensure all our managers and leaders uphold our commitment to creating a compassionate and inclusive culture. This is ongoing work as part of the OD Portfolio.

Vital Conversations and Personal Impact

We continue to offer ‘Vital Conversations’ and ‘Personal Impact’ sessions to teams across the Trust to support our staff to meet our behavioural framework and feel confident in hold people to account, challenging and speaking up. This is ongoing work as part of the OD Portfolio.

All Ideas Matter

Our ‘All Ideas Matter’ platform is available for all staff to make suggestions to improve the way they work or their work environment. All suggestions are reviewed by a relevant manager/director and feedback is provided to the member of staff directly, so they are kept informed of progress if their idea is taken forward or they are given reasons why if their idea cannot be taken forward. An update on suggestions that have been received are published regularly in the weekly briefing. This is ongoing work as part of the OD Portfolio.

Civility and Respect

A Civility and Respect course has been added to the Learning Portal and promoted within the Weekly Briefing. A session on Civility and Respect will also be delivered to all our Operational Managers at their annual manager update in 2025. The People Promise manager has been working with other colleagues to promote the civility and respect module across the organisation.

Personal Space Campaign

Posters and promotional campaigns are in development regarding the importance of personal space and being mindful not to cross boundaries. This supports our continued commitment to provide a safe and comfortable work environment for our staff and links into our sexual safety charter and dignity at work policy. This is ongoing work as part of the OD Portfolio.

External Development Opportunities

External development opportunities continue to be advertised to underrepresented groups of staff to promote and encourage opportunities for development with an aim of achieving equal representation across all areas of the Trust. This is ongoing work as part of the OD Portfolio.

IT Skills Training

IT Skills Training is provided for individual members of staff who want to enhance their IT skills or who need assistance using Trust technology. Team sessions are also provided upon request. This is ongoing work as part of the OD Portfolio.

Development Sessions

Development sessions such as interview skills, 360 feedback, coaching and mentoring and MBTI are provided upon request for anyone who wishes to develop their skills. PDC Reviewer development sessions are also provided annually for any manager who holds Personal Development Conversations as part of their role. This is ongoing work as part of the OD Portfolio.

Performance and Development Conversations

Performance and Development Conversations are quality audited each year to ensure PDCs remain meaningful to staff. Additional support is provided to managers who require further guidance or development in this area. This is ongoing work as part of the OD Portfolio.

Learning Portal

The Learning Portal has been reviewed and updated to make it more user friendly to our staff. This is ongoing work as part of the OD Portfolio.

Equality Impact Assessments – Due Regard

Due Regard (diversity & inclusion analytics) is the mechanism by which the Trust seeks to ensure that its functions, policies, processes, and practices do not have an adverse impact on any person in respect of their protected characteristics as described in the Equality Act 2010.

Due Regard Means thinking about the aims of the PSED in the decision-making process. This means that consideration must be given to equality issues such as:

• How the Trust acts as an employer
• How the Trust develops, evaluates, and reviews policy
• How the Trust designs, delivers and evaluates services
• How the Trust commissions and procures from others

The EIA process has been embedded into the governance mechanism of the Trust and the framework is available for staff to use when developing or reviewing business activity. Training on how to utilise the EIA framework was delivered to appropriate staff as well as being promoted in the weekly brief and is available on the intranet for staff to download. Further advice and guidance have been developed on the EIA process and the equality lead has provided one to one support on completion of the assessment and associated documentation when needed.

Communications and Engagement

Partner Stakeholder Survey

WMAS undertook a survey of our stakeholders in quarter 4 of 2025/26, this was support the development of new trust strategy and to further inform our partnership arrangements, it included commissioners, regulators, hospital trusts, local authorities, health-watch, universities, and others. The survey had ten questions and enabled respondents to provide free text replies as well, including anonymously if desired, to ensure the feedback was frank and honest.

We had responses from a wide range of stakeholders who were very supportive of the Trust but did provide feedback on how we could further strengthen partnership working in what is a complex challenging environment.

The results of the survey will be shared with our Trust board as part of the refresh of our organisational strategy, which is taking place during 2025/26.

Equality objectives 2025-2029

Equality Objectives 2025-2029

The Trust is required under the “Specific Duties” to prepare and publish one or more specific and measurable equality objectives which will help to further the three aims of the Equality Duty. The objectives must be published every four years. In 2025 we developed our four-year Equality Strategy and Equality Objectives 2025-2029. Progress on these objectives is monitored at strategic meetings within the Trust.

Objective 1 Equality Standards

Our commitment to meeting the Equality Standards set by NHS England will be demonstrated by the implementation and monitoring of the following standards:

• Workforce Race Equality Standard
• Workforce Disability Equality Standard
• Gender Pay Gap Reporting
• Accessible Information Standard
• Equality Delivery System
• Ethnicity Pay Gap reporting (linking findings to the WRES action plan in 2025/26)

Over the last year we have done this through:

• Implementing our approach to the NHS Equality Delivery System by delivering on the framework.
• Monitoring of the Workforce Race and Disability Equality Standards and the Gender Pay Gap action plans.
• Investigating the experiences/satisfaction of staff through further surveys (Winning-Temp survey platform) and focus groups.
• Supporting the staff equality networks to ensure they are aligned with our strategic equality objectives.

Objective 2 Reflective and diverse workforce

We will enhance our approach to recruitment, selection, and promotion to positively attract, retain and support the progression of diverse staff across the Trust.

We have done this in part by:

• Targeting local and diverse communities in recruitment campaigns.
• Work closely with external partners and providers (e.g., university paramedic programmes) to ensure diversity among the student group, and appropriate course content.
• Ensure the recruitment and selection training programme informs recruiting staff and managers of their legal duties under the Equality Act 2010.
• Partnering with Coventry University and Heath Education England to support three Masters of Research for 3 inter-related studies:

Recruitment in Action – Recruitment engagement 2025

The Recruitment team and colleagues have been busy throughout 2025 attending a range of engagement events within the community.

We attended various settings, from primary schools to colleges all the way up to the NEC, to reach diverse groups across the region and showcase WMAS and the Opportunities available within the Trust.

One of our first engagements of the year was at the ‘Sense Disability Jobs Fair’, offering guidance and information about accessible career pathways within our organisation. Our Recruitment team engaged with over 40 Job seekers with a range of Disabilities (including Physical, Sensory and Neurodiverse needs) to discuss careers with our Trust and to highlight our inclusive recruitment practices, reasonable adjustments and ongoing support within the workplace.

Some of our Operational staff also engaged with local schools and colleges, including Chase Terrace Academy in Staffordshire. Here, we supported Students to film an instructional CPR video as part of the ‘Restart a Heart’ initiative, as well as holding careers advice to students interested in a career with the Ambulance Service. This was a great opportunity to work with young adults within the community, to raise awareness of the importance of learning CPR, as well as inspiring young people to consider a role with us in the future.

September brought the Emergency Services Show back to Birmingham NEC, and we were thrilled to be offered a larger stand at this year’s event to allow us a bigger and better presence. This year, Recruitment worked with the Mental Health and Research teams to create an in-depth showcase of our Trust. We displayed our specialised Mental Health vehicle, had an interactive Virtual Reality experience and had live podcast recording within the stand. Our Research team organised a display of ambulance equipment ‘through the ages’ including a 1970’s Ambulance on proud display! We also held a ‘CPR-athon’ where our staff, a team of our Community First Responders and members of the public completed CPR throughout all opening hours of both days of the event to raise awareness and funds for the Resuscitation Council. Our stand was very well received and it was great to be able to have the space to showcase different areas of our Trust.

In February, we partnered with our Health and Wellbeing team to attend the ‘Sikhs In Industry’ careers event at Guru Nanak Gurdwara. The event provided an opportunity to engage with the Sikh community, celebrate cultural diversity and to discuss career pathways in a welcoming and inclusive environment. This was a very busy event with some great engagements with attendees, we hope to be able to attend future events that they run going forward.

Our 2026-2027 events calendar is already filling up, and we look forward to continuing to engage with diverse communities to showcase our Trust and recruit more staff from diverse backgrounds throughout the year.

Objective 3: Ensure our leadership is committed to creating an environment that promotes and values equality and diversity and this is embedded in all we do

We have done this in part by:

• Delivering diversity and inclusion training including Anti-Racism training to members of the Board of Directors and Council of Governor’s
• Ensuring all our leaders have specific diversity & inclusion objectives in their annual objectives with performance discussed during their appraisals
• Board and Committee reports include due consideration to Diversity and Equality and have an equality impact analysis where appropriate or required.
• The Chief Executive has met with the staff network chairs and the Chaplaincy assuring of its full support in advancing equality and inclusion and diversity and through attending diverse events throughout the year.
• Chief Executive of WMAS made a commitment to gather data on protected characteristics as part of the NHS system, demonstrating leadership and commitment to equality which would pave the way for service and staff improvements

Objective 4: A healthy, fair and more resilient workforce

To create a healthy, fair and more resilient workforce by systematically tackling the root causes of health inequalities within the Trust – ensuring all staff, regardless of role, background, or personal circumstances, have equal opportunities to thrive in work and wellbeing.

We will do this by:

• Prioritizing preventative approaches, including health screening, lifestyle support and early intervention services
• Equipping leaders and managers with knowledge and tools to identify and reduce health inequalities within their teams
• Promoting an Organisational culture that champions reducing health inequalities
• Ensuring all patients receive accessible and culturally sensitive care – patient experience will need to capture relevant data to achieve this outcome.

These Equality Objectives will sit with the equality action plans and be monitored at the Diversity, and Inclusion Steering Action Group (DISAG) and People Committee.

The activities below showcase our commitment to Equality Objective 4 and the work that has gone onto ensure we do everything we can for our staff who are our most important and critical asset that drives better patient outcomes every single day:

Continued Provision of free sanitary products for all staff across the Trust.

The Trust continues to provide free sanitary products to all staff across the Trust. The monies awarded was used to purchase and install a free vend unit in every female toilet block across the Trust, a total of 34 units. In addition, the bid enabled the purchase of a large supply of sanitary towels and tampons, in a variety of flow sizes. This meant that every unit was provided with an initial stock of products.

Health & Wellbeing Achievements 2025/26

Building on the success of the 2022–2024 programme, the Health & Wellbeing (HWB) Team delivered another series of Roadshows from May to August 2025, visiting hubs across the Trust. These events continued to offer staff opportunities to explore available support, ask questions, and engage with a wide range of physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing services.

The Roadshows included our established features such as onsite health checks, SALS advisors, Health & Wellbeing Champions, Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) advocates, and popular cycling and rowing challenges. This year, we strengthened collaboration with both internal and external stakeholders, expanding the breadth of support available to staff.

Staff Health Checks 2025

Throughout 2025, the HWB Team delivered free, confidential health checks across multiple hubs. These drop-in sessions required no booking and allowed staff to access advice and assessments including blood pressure, BMI, and general wellbeing guidance. The checks offered staff an accessible way to monitor key health indicators and speak to the team about any concerns or questions, supporting early intervention and positive health behaviours.

Health & Wellbeing Online Summer Festival 2025

On 24–25 June 2025, approximately 70 colleagues took part in our second virtual Summer Festival, an engaging two-day programme supporting mental and physical wellbeing through 27 interactive sessions. Topics ranged from nutrition and financial wellbeing to menopause awareness, neurodiversity in employment, FTSU, and more. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with staff describing the sessions as informative, supportive, and impactful. Highlights included:

• “The Menopause workshop was really informative and helpful.”
• “This year, more than ever, it hit home just how much support is out there.”
• “The conflict session today was superb!”
• “Really interesting nutritional session.”

Health & Wellbeing Online Winter Festival 2026

The HWB Team, hosted their online Winter Wellbeing Festival From 19th until 23rd January a week of free, virtual sessions designed to recharge minds, body and spirit, enabled staff to dip into expert-led workshops, live Q&As and practical support, all from your desk and the comfort of their own home. No travel, no stress, just a week of wellbeing. There was something for everyone from Motivational Monday, unwind with a mindfulness session, explore financial wellbeing tools or get insights on topics like menopause support and emotional resilience.

This festival was another success. We received positive feedback from our members of staff. Most colleagues reported being very satisfied with their experience and said they would be keen to attend similar events in the future. This tells us that the festival continues to meet a real need and that staff value having dedicated time and space to focus on wellbeing

HWB Website Performance

Since its launch in July 2022, the HWB website continues to be a key resource for staff, supported by ongoing promotion at Roadshows and events.

The year-on-year growth reflects increased staff awareness and engagement with HWB resources.

Home Electronics Salary Sacrifice Scheme

The Home Electronics Scheme, launched 3 November, continues to be highly successful:

• 386 total orders submitted
• 209 orders approved (following employer-portal validation)
• Declines mainly due to National Living Wage (NLW) affordability checks
• Ongoing high volumes managed efficiently by Payroll and Finance teams

The scheme remains popular and continues to support staff in accessing affordable home technology.

Health & Wellbeing Champions Development

We now have around 60 active HWB Champions across the Trust, following updates to the network since 2023. Throughout the year, Champions attended a combination of face-to-face and virtual development sessions led by the Health & Wellbeing Manager. These sessions enable Champions to strengthen their understanding of Trust-wide wellbeing services, with contributions from internal and external partners. To support their role, a dedicated HWB Champions Newsletter provides up-to-date information, resources, and guidance.

Partnership with The Trussell Trust

The Trust is committed to supporting colleagues facing financial difficulty. Through our partnership with The Trussell Trust, staff can be referred directly for emergency food support. The HWB Team issues e-vouchers for three-day food parcels on behalf of the Trussell Trust network, ensuring a discreet, compassionate, and accessible referral pathway for colleagues in crisis.

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) & Suicide Awareness Training

Our commitment to mental health continued through the delivery of MHFA and Suicide Lite training during 2025. These courses equip staff with:

• An understanding of mental health and contributing factors
• Skills to recognise triggers and early signs
• Confidence to offer initial reassurance and support

As of January 2026:

• 668 staff trained in MHFA
• 1,101 staff completed Suicide Lite training

Both programmes continue to be delivered through a mix of online and face-to-face sessions.

Community Engagement – Careers Day at Guru Nanak Gurdwara Smethwick

The Trust joined emergency service partners and local organisations at the Guru Nanak Gurdwara Careers Day, engaging with community members interested in careers within WMAS. Staff provided information on recruitment pathways and offered interactive demonstrations such as the grip-strength test. The event also strengthened relationships with community groups and partner organisations, supporting ongoing recruitment and outreach work.

Free NHS Health Checks at Millennium Point

In partnership with ABL Health and Dudley Council, we continued to offer free NHS Health Checks throughout 2025. These sessions provide staff with a personalised snapshot of their health, including blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood glucose checks, alongside tailored advice to reduce health risks.

Awards and Recognition

Our Health & Wellbeing Roadshows were shortlisted for the 2025 HSJ Patient Safety Awards – Staff Wellbeing Initiative of the Year, recognising the impact of our proactive approach to employee wellbeing.

Placement Student Recruitment

To support the work of the HWB and Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) team, we continued our partnership with Aston University, offering placement opportunities that enhance both service delivery and student development.

Building on the success of the 2022–2024 programme, the Health & Wellbeing (HWB) Team delivered another series of Roadshows from May to August 2025, visiting hubs across the Trust. These events continued to offer staff opportunities to explore available support, ask questions, and engage with a wide range of physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing services.

The Roadshows included our established features such as onsite health checks, SALS advisors, Health & Wellbeing Champions, Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) advocates, and popular cycling and rowing challenges. This year, we strengthened collaboration with both internal and external stakeholders, expanding the breadth of support available to staff.

Sexual Safety at WMAS

In October 2022 we launched a sexual safety charter across the Trust, clearly demonstrating behaviours and conduct that are not acceptable and to encourage people to report concerns of a sexual safety nature. We have continued to promote sexual safety awareness to staff across a number of platforms including education and awareness sessions delivered across the Trust to managers, supervisors and those working in a position of Trust. Across all sites sexual safety awareness posters are displayed in safe spaces, on the back of toilet doors, highlighting examples of inappropriate behaviour and listing avenues of support available.

We have made some significant progress despite the challenges and pressures that the Trust has faced whilst acknowledging that over the course of the four years of the Equality Strategy, further work needs to be advanced to deliver on the objectives in their entirety.  In 2025/26 the EDI Lead developed the Equality Objectives and the Equality Strategy for the next 4 years (2025-2029).  The Equality Objectives will be monitored through the established governance mechanisms for monitoring equality and inclusion.

Gender Pay Gap

In 2017 the Government introduced world-leading legislation that made it statutory for all organisations with 250 or more employees to report annually on their gender pay gap. West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust is covered by the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017 that came into force on 31 March 2017.

These regulations underpin the Public-Sector Equality Duty and require the relevant organisations to publish their gender pay gap annually, including mean and median gender pay gaps; the mean and median gender bonus gaps; the proportion of men and women who received bonuses; and the proportions of male and female employees in each pay quartile.

The gender pay gap shows the difference in the average pay between all men and women in a workforce. If a workforce has a particularly high gender pay gap, this can indicate there may be a number of issues to deal with, and the individual calculations may help to identify what those issues are.

The gender pay gap is different to equal pay. Equal pay deals with the pay differences between men and women who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs, or work of equal value. It is unlawful to pay people unequally because they are a man or a woman.

Differences in gender pay show a demographic pay gap. By taking the average hourly rate for all employees and comparing the difference in that metric for men and women, gender pay reporting is most notable about female representation in certain roles – not whether a man earns more for the same job.

Equal pay is about men and women being paid the same for the same work, while the gender pay gap is about the difference in average hourly earnings.

In 2025/26, we published the WMAS Gender Pay Gap report as per requirement and developed an action plan to bridge the gap in disparities.

As part of our commitment to bridging the gender pay gap and gender equality, the Trust is supporting the Springboard Women’s Development Programme – an award winning personal and professional programme designed and developed by women for women. It has been tried and tested in the NHS and beyond and is designed to support women in taking control and making good decisions in life and work.

In the past year, we have continued to offer bespoke development programme for WMAS female staff and is open to transgender women and non-binary people,

Springboard is for women who want to take control, become more assertive, increase their confidence and build themselves a more positive attitude in both their work and home lives. The programme gives the participants the time to reflect, share and most importantly, set achievable goals for now and the future. Springboard empowers women and helps them to enhance their own skills and abilities, and challenge power and inequality, while also building assertiveness, a positive image, and giving them a voice.

During the programme, the participants were invited to explore practical ways of learning how to develop their potential by:

• Undertaking realistic self-assessment which will help set challenging goals.
• Learning communication skills, assertiveness, self- confidence, improving your work/life balance and developing positive skills and attitudes.

WMAS has an active workforce plan and the number of women in the organisation sits at 54.58% as of 31 March 2026. – a slight increase from 2024/25.

Actions to eradicate the gender pay gap

Overall, over the last 2 years there have been significant improvements in the reduction of the gender pay gap both for Mean and Median.  For Mean the improvement is by 6.4% (from 2023) and for Median it is 9.7%.   Interventions put in place in the action plan may well have been a contributory factor especially as the Women’s springboard development programme has been in operation since 2021.  Furthermore, the overall demographic of the workforce has increased over the last few years which has enabled more female employees the opportunity to gain further experience and develop themselves to be able to move into supervisory and leadership roles as and when they have become available through competitive recruitment processes.

In the current year there has been an increase in upper quartile (4.97%),upper middle quartile (by 2.41%), lower middle quartile (2,17%) increase in lower quartile (by 4.7%).  The figures show an upward trend and a noticeable and significant improvement in the pay quartiles especially in the upper middle and upper quartile which has now tipped the balance in favour of female staff.  This is a significant and positive statistic for female staff albeit the balance needs to be maintained so as not to increase the disparity for male members of staff.  For lower middle quartile and lower quartile there has been an increase for female staff which would need addressing in the action plan in 2026.  There is a possibility that the lower quartile maybe impacted by newly recruited staff who are at the bottom of the pay scale which may have had an impact in the increase for female members of staff as there has been a 2% increase in the overall female members of staff in 2025 from 2024.

Overall, this is a positive report with significant reduction in the Gender Pay Gap for Women as shown in the figures in the last two years.  An associated action plan is scheduled to be developed in June 2026 to consider the most recently available 2025/2026 data to continue progress.

The Board of Directors and the senior leadership team are committed to improving our gender pay gap and are looking at a number of initiatives to address this through the action plan which includes supporting a further cohort for women’s development programme, Springboard in 2026/27. 

Health inequalities

Public Health

The Trust recognises that the population it serves is ageing, increasingly diverse, and presenting with more complex health and social care needs, requiring a shift toward integrated, community-based models of care. As a universal access service, the Trust is uniquely positioned to identify unmet need, influence health behaviours and support early intervention across the communities it serves.

The Trust produced its Public Health Strategy 2023–2028 and has been working on reducing health inequalities for staff by establishing a number of key outcomes as follows:

1. Reducing health inequalities through ensuring the workforce reflects the community it serves involves creating a diverse, inclusive, and culturally competent workforce that understands and addresses the unique needs and preferences of the community. A diverse workforce can provide better care, improve communication, and build trust with community members, leading to more equitable health outcomes.
2. Reducing health inequalities through inclusive recruitment involves creating a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the community it serves. Inclusive recruitment practices can help address health disparities by ensuring that healthcare providers are culturally competent, understand the needs of diverse populations, and can effectively communicate and connect with patients from various backgrounds.
3. Reducing health inequalities through creating a workplace environment that promotes health and well-being for all employees, regardless of their socioeconomic status, age, gender, or other demographic factors.
4. Reducing health inequalities through job satisfaction involves creating a positive and supportive work environment where all employees feel valued, engaged, and motivated. Job satisfaction can significantly impact an individual’s physical and mental health, so focusing on improving job satisfaction can help reduce health inequalities among employees
5. Reducing physical impacts also reduces inevitable health problems for our workforce due to the nature of our work.
6. New and/or existing health conditions refer to disparities or differences experienced in health outcomes, access to healthcare, and work-related opportunities among employees who have pre-existing health conditions. Addressing these inequalities is essential for creating a fair and supportive work environment

Achievements 2025/26

In the past year we have achieved the following:

• Health Inequalities Framework approved and embedded
• Population Health Management Plan (SpoA & Community Response)
• Development of regional population insight (“Taking Stock” approach)
• Strengthened partnerships with Local Authorities
• Targeted community-based interventions in areas of deprivation and diverse populations
• Improved access to community-based care pathways
• Emerging evidence of reduced hospital conveyance
• Engagement with marginalised communities through alternative response models

Priorities 2026/27

• Develop and implement a consolidated Public Health Annual Report, incorporating Making Every Contact Count (MECC), to strengthen organisational oversight, assurance and impact reporting
• Develop and embed a proportionate framework for using health inequalities data to inform operational and strategic decision-making, including service design and demand management, aligned to NHS England’s Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOEs), and demonstrating measurable impact over time.
• Review and explore the Neighbourhood Health Framework in collaboration with the Head of Integrated Urgent Care Services, to support alignment with community-based care models and system priorities
• Progress the Population Health Management Plan through established governance routes, ensuring alignment with system partners and delivery against identified population health priorities
• Strengthen the use of existing data, insight and evaluation approaches to support evidence-based decision-making, outcome measurement and demonstration of impact
• Expand and formalise system partnerships, including exploration of commissioning opportunities, to enhance the Trust’s contribution to population health and health inequalities reduction
• Continue to develop workforce capability, with a focus on embedding public health, prevention and health inequalities into routine practice
• Enhance the measurement and reporting of outcomes to demonstrate the impact of public health interventions at both organisational and system level

Diversity Champions

Diversity Champions

Diversity Champions have been recruited to cover sites across the Trust, in the last two years, to provide an additional resource for staff to tap into in respect of equality, diversity and inclusion. The Diversity Champion is the named individual at their designated site, promoting diversity and inclusion with the aim of helping to reduce the chances of discrimination through appropriate advice and support and linking in with staff networks and management when appropriate and promoting the right behaviours. The Diversity Champions go through a process of training to equip them with the skills to carry out their voluntary role. 22 Diversity Champions have been recruited and trained with most sites covered. The EDI lead provides support and guidance to the Champions and has twice yearly meetings with the aim of shared learning and any additional support that the they may need to carry out their role. The following describes what the role of the Diversity Champion has entailed

The Diversity Champion will:

• Help to raise awareness of equality, diversity, and inclusion
• Be provided with appropriate advice, support, development by the Equality Lead, staff networks and Organisational Development
• Encourage individuals to speak up on any issues or concerns they may have
• Promote information on Trust initiatives and opportunities such as reverse mentoring, health and well-being and support networks.
• Encourage membership of the Trust’s staff networks
• Signpost staff to the relevant support or advice they may need.
• Be part of the bigger team of Diversity Champions
• Help celebrate cultural days and/or help to organise events at their site or across sites
• This is a voluntary role that staff offer to commit too.

Workforce Race and Disability Equality Standard

Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) and Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES).

The WRES and WDES was introduced in the NHS in 2015 onwards with an aim to support NHS organisations to close the gaps in workplace experience between staff with disabilities and none for WDES. For WRES the marker was to close the gaps in workplace experiences between White and Black and Ethnic Minority (BME) staff and to improve BME representation at the Board level of the organisation. The Trust supports and promotes the WRES and WDES, encouraging BME staff and staff with disabilities to reach their full potential through equality of opportunity.

The Trust aims to recruit a workforce that is diverse and representative of our communities. The WRES and WDES is a set of metrics which is published annually in conjunction with an action plans. It is pleasing to note that we have increased our BME workforce and staff with disabilities from last year and will continue to work towards our set targets. The Trust’s long-term goal is to reach 23.7% of staff being from a BME background by achieving a 2% year on year increase (based on census data to be reflective of the West Midlands population).

In 2025, WMAS collated the WRES and WDES data and developed robust action plans to bridge the gaps in disparity. The action plans has been monitored through-out 2025-26 for delivery at the Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group (DISAG) and at the People Committee. During May and June 2026, data on the WRES and WDES will be collated and an action plan developed and published on the Trust Website

Conclusion

It should be noted that the Trust has been working towards the implementation of several action plans including the WRES action plan in 2025/26. These action plans have been actively monitored for progress, quarterly, at the Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group (DISAG). The outcome of the WRES data (to be published later in 2026) will give the Trust further information on how well the Trust has done in the past year and areas for further improvement.

This is a challenging time for everyone; however, it presents us with even more reason to ensure we are living the principles of equality and inclusion in all that we do, and WMAS will continue to progress the WRES and WDES work within WMAS.

Equality delivery system 3 2022 (EDS3 2022)

Introduction

The main purpose of the Equality Delivery System is to help local NHS organisations, in discussion with local partners including local people, review and improve their performance for people with characteristics protected by the Equality Act 2010. By using EDS3 NHS organisations can also be helped to deliver on the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). The EDS provides a way for the organisation to show how it is doing against 11 specific outcomes that are grouped across the following three domains:

Domain 1: Commissioned or Provided Services

This focuses on patient access and experience, reducing inequalities and enabling better health outcomes.

Domain 2: Workforce Health & Wellbeing

This focuses on ensuring that all workforce members are fully supported in relation to health and wellbeing.

Domain 3: Inclusive Leadership

This domain explores how leadership at WMAS demonstrates a commitment to equality and how it works in a way that identifies equality issues and manages them.

Each of the above domains has set outcomes that are evaluated and scored against the set criteria, and experiences of stakeholders. It is these ratings that provide assurance and/or provide direction for further improvement.

What did we do?

For 2025/26 reporting year Domain 2 and Domain 3 of the EDS have been assessed. Domain 1 will be assessed later on in 2026 as an action plan has been developed on the Maternity service and is being delivered on

Desk top evidence was gathered and assessed for Trust implementation involving EDI and Well-being Team, OD, HR, Staff Network Leads, and Staff Side/Trade Union representatives. A separate evidence pack was compiled for each Domain. Compilation of evidence packs largely utilised already existing data and reports. Service leads were contacted where required to provide specific input on their service.

At WMAS, the EDS framework is utilised so meaningful, positive and transformational change can take place with tangible improvements and services chosen will be revisited, if appropriate, every two years. At WMAS we have taken a more pragmatic approach in the utilisation of the EDS3 framework. The work does not stop at the conclusion of the assessment and grading phase. The reports are presented, and action plans developed which are then monitored at the Diversity, and Inclusion Steering Group (DISAG).

Domain 2 – Workforce, Health and Well-being & Domain 3 – Inclusive Leadership

Enabling our diverse workforce to be healthy, with a sense of well-being is crucial to high-quality patient care. Therefore, a fundamental part of WMAS’s ambitions is strengthening and building on the available health and well-being support.

To truly create the conditions for high quality, compassionate and continually improving healthcare, leaders must understand and better nurture inclusiveness, promote equity and value diversity. The Board understand this and are committed to creating a culture of compassion whereby diversity is encouraged and celebrated, enabling an environment where all staff are empowered and have a positive experience.

For 2025/26 a hybrid grading system has been developed by the EDI lead, in addition to what has been given as a guide by the EDS. The new grading guide has been used to describe areas where improvements have been made but the threshold not fully achieved. For the first time the in-between grading of Developing to Achieving has been used to celebrate progress from the previous year in outcome 2C. For this reason, it is felt that an overall score may not be reflective of the progress and achievements made and that each domain and outcome should be judged separately for the progress that it has made – and which will show a true reflection of where the organisation is in terms of improvements in equality and service.

There are several areas which have been assessed as Achieving with others as Developing in Domain 2. There has been a marked improvement in Domain 2, Outcome 2C which has moved from Developing to Developing to Achieving from last year. This is largely due to the additional work put in sexual safety and the anti-racism charter training and awareness and the People Voice Action platform.

There is no change in Domain 3 which is assessed to be Achieving in outcome 3A 3B and Excelling in 3C and this is due to the pledge that the Chief has made as part of the Black Country Integrated Care System on equality improvement and the work done in this field in 2025/26.

The EDS assessment will be presented to the Diversity, and Inclusion Steering Group (DISAG) for monitoring going forward and also shared at the quarterly Peoples Committee for assurance and the final approved version will be published on our intranet site.

WMAS Chaplaincy Service and Staff Networks

Chaplaincy Service

We have continued to increase our Chaplaincy service to support the diverse faiths of our workforce. Chaplaincy has been further strengthened by having Tracy join the team which already consists of Satnam Kaur, The Sikh Chaplain, Stephen Bentham, the Christian Chaplain, and Imam Asad – Muslim Chaplain.

Tracy Joins Chaplaincy Team

Tracy will work alongside fellow Christian Chaplain, Stephen Behntham, to offer support to staff and further strengthen the strong relationships she already has with numerous departments across the Trust including SALS, Health and Wellbeing Colleagues and the Unions. Tracy has spent 37 years working on the road, originally starting at Donington but spending the last 30 years at Shrewsbury. She has been a union representative for the last 26 years and was ordained by the Bishop of Hereford at Hereford Cathedral in July 2024. Tracy said: “It is a great privilege to be someone that colleagues feel able to turn to and confide in. I look forward to working alongside Stephen and the other Chaplains to continue further developing that support in any way people require.” Director of People, Carla Beechey, said: I have no doubt that Tracy will be a well valued member of the team and someone who is really appreciated by staff for the support she will offer.

Tracy has always held a strong Christian faith and following encouragement from her church, undertook three years of part-time theological study. She was ordained by the Bishop of Hereford at Hereford Cathedral in July 2024. Tracy believes her years of frontline experience have shaped her faith and calling and now looks forward to serving colleagues across the Trust as part of the chaplaincy team.

WMAS Iftar Event 2025

On 12th March 2026 an Iftar event was held at the Sandwell Hub. Iftar is the time when Muslims open their fast at sunset time, after staying without food and drink all day. It was an open invite, and everyone was welcome. The evening consisted of encouraging messages from the Chief and the Chair about supporting each other and exercising unity and tolerance during challenging times.

A presentation was shared by the Muslim Chaplain explaining Muslim beliefs and what the importance of Ramadhan was to them. Prayers were offered for all the staff at WMAS. The ill, sick, bereaved, deceased, and troubled were remembered in the prayers. After sunset, everyone broke bread together as they enjoyed the experience of enlightening and educating each other on their similarities and differences as well as enjoying a meal together.

Staff Networks

All staff networks continue to have an assigned Executive Sponsor as well as a HR Manager to act as a buddy. These additional resources assist the network chairs by providing professional support and guidance to them as chairs as well as to the networks that they support. The staff networks have been collaborating and working together on joint events and initiatives where they can. The following section describes some of the engagement and activities and support provided by WMAS staff networks to its members and wider staff.

PROUD at WMAS

Our LGBT+ Network is a well-established network within the Trust who through their inclusive ethos are bringing together LGBT+ staff, those who support their colleagues and those who want to learn more about and tackle health inequalities & stigma that LGBT+ communities still face today.

Through a supportive local and national forum, they share best practice, continuing professional development opportunities and awareness events such as for LGBT History Month as well as working with the Trust to consult members in the development of policies, procedures and training to support our staff as individuals as well as improving the care we provide to our patients.

The Network communicates with our staff and its members through multiple platforms, including Microsoft TEAMS, Facebook, and email to improve engagement as well as with their followers on Twitter where they share upcoming events, new development opportunities and the exciting work that they do with the wider public which serves to improve relations between the ambulance service and the LGBT+ community and the wider public.

We have also attended local LGBT+ events including Birmingham Pride where over 50 of our staff join colleagues from other emergency services and the wider NHS to provide a Tri-Service approach to engaging with the community and promoting the ambulance service as a diverse and inclusive place to work.

As a contributing committee member of the National Ambulance LGBT+ Network who bring together representation from each NHS Ambulance Trust to coordinate best practice, activities and contribute to core objectives our network have supported our staff to attend the National Ambulance LGBT+ Network Annual Conference each year which is an opportunity for professional development, sharing best practice and networking with colleagues from around the country.

This platform has seen us contributing to the development of a Trans Toolkit available from CPDme, the Trans ‘Z’ card available to staff across our organisation and other CPD aimed at improving care to patients living with HIV which is available to staff across the country and brings a unified standard to the care that we provide.

ONE network: The BME group

The ONE staff network is becoming well-established, have Terms of Reference and have elected a staff committee. Members receive regular updates and are able to engage with the network through several mechanisms, including WhatsApp, twitter, and email as well as in person and by phone.

The group is represented on the National BME Ambulance Forum with the work chair and the WMAS EDI Lead, being members of the management committee.

The network has gone through a transition over the last two years with two co-chairs and a vice chair elected.

The network has worked closely with external partners and has made key contributions in the resource created for BAME members and allies of the Trust.

Black History Month 2025 was celebrated across the Trust including weekly articles going into the organisations weekly brief with the aim of educating, learning and celebrating past and present contributions.

The network has a number of achievements to look back on and moving forward as follows:

Membership Growth

Over the last two years, The One Network has seen remarkable expansion, growing from 30 members to 143. This significant increase highlights the network’s value and the positive impact it provides to its members.

More people are reaching out to the network for queries, support, and guidance. Together, we are building a vibrant, supportive community that continues to inspire and make a difference.

The One Network has been incredibly active and engaged in a variety of meaningful initiatives and events over the year. Below is a summary of these activities:

These activities demonstrate The One Network’s ongoing commitment to member engagement, community involvement, and cultural celebration. The network’s efforts are clearly making a positive impact, and the continued momentum will likely lead to even greater success in the future.

Culture Day (Black History Month) is a Big Success

Members of the ONE Network and allies celebrated Black History Month in November 2025 during their annual Cultural Day.

The event at the old Academy attracted many staff who heard personal stories and journeys, as well as talks and a chance to take part in music.

ONE Network Co-Chair, Mohammed Azim, said: “The day was a fantastic blend of inspiration, reflection, and celebration, with everyone leaving feeling empowered to continue making a positive impact in their communities

Anti-Racism Charter – Training

The Trust is committed to creating and maintaining a zero-tolerance approach to racism and discrimination. Race and racism are not always well understood and therefore race is mistakenly and widely used to denote difference.

Racism is very real and yet often we deny it affects us, our behaviours, or our employees. Racial discrimination can have a significant psychological impact on the health and well-being of those affected; therefore, we need to develop an inclusive workplace culture where employees feel safe to challenge racial discrimination and inequalities across the Trust.

We have launched, an implemented a race equality and inclusion charter, in partnership with the ONE (BME) network, setting out a zero tolerance to racism in the workplace and the continued support to colleagues who unfortunately experience such unacceptable behaviour.

The charter is summarised in a poster format which is displayed in safe spaces across the Trust, on notice boards and the back of toilet cubicles.

The Trust has commenced training for staff across the Trust in 2024/25 which will build a culture of trust, where employees experiencing racism feel confident to come forward and know that they’ll be listened to and taken seriously.

The training challenges participants to look at their own thinking and biases and covers a range of inclusion topics in addition to anti racism including use of gender pronouns, generational differences and micro aggressions.

Women’s network

The Women’s network is now a well-established group.

The network is run by Co-chairs & Vice Chair and supported by a HR Buddy and Executive Sponsor and members receive regular updates and can engage with the network through several mechanisms. Although a relatively new network, it has already been instrumental in shaping the Gender Pay Gap action plan, which is monitored by the group and has helped coordinate the Springboard initiative for women.

• Springboard Cohort ran from September – December and was successful.
• Rebecca Parker-Williams and Sonia Bhattle – Chair and Vice Chair have been working with the membership to advance the Women’s Network throughout 2024.
• Women’s Network members base continues to grow.
• Onboarding process currently being designed and improved.
• AACE National Network meetings attended.
• Uniform Group meetings attended.
• Diversity & Inclusion Group meetings attended.
• Gender Pay gap action plan updated and published for 2025/26.
• Women’s Network supported both H & W Roadshows and People Promise Drop-in’s.
• Coffee Morning at Sandwell – Menopause & Periods Talk.
• South Asian Heritage Day Event – One Network and Women’s Network collaboration.
• Women’s Health – Coffee morning
• Springboard Alumni Event was held to celebrate all of our graduates
• White Ribbon Campaign ran from 25th November – 10th December and included both online and in person events throughout this time period and raised awareness around Domestic Violence and how we can become allies.
• Women’s Network continued to supply sanitary products across hubs
• Women Leading The Way seminar will took place in 2025 – hosted by member, Bethany Stewart to support GPG report work and help women who feel there are barriers to their progression within the trust.
• Project – Joanne Caines is working on a project to support women going through infertility and baby loss and how we can support our staff at this time.
• New mum’s/expectant mums project – We have been working on guidance for management when having conversations with expectant mums/new mums and are also introducing drop-in sessions/coffee mornings.
• International Women’s Day Event – March 2026.

Sandwell Hosts International Women’s Day Event

March 2026 saw an incredible turnout as scores of colleagues from across the Trust came together for the Women’s Network International Women’s Day event at our Sandwell Hub.

The day was packed with inspiring talks and hands-on workshops led by some of the brilliant women at WMAS, covering everything from dealing with grief and mindfulness to mastering public speaking and working in specialist teams.

Of course, no great event is complete without some well-earned treats as attendees enjoyed a delicious lunch (complete with cakes and tea!), while breaks provided the perfect opportunity to network and connect with colleagues from different departments.

Women’s Network Co-Chair, Rebecca Parker-Williams, reflected on the day’s success: “The day was a great success celebrating the achievements of Women in our Trust, and I’m sure everyone learned a great deal from the various events throughout the day. I would like to say a huge thankyou from the Women’s Network to our key speakers who kindly shared their experiences and a special well done to the ladies who have recently completed the Springboard Program who plucked up the courage to do a presentation. We look forward to seeing even more of you join in the fun next year!”.

A massive thank you to everyone who made the event such a success. Together, we’re making real change to support, uplift and continue to grow as an organisation that champions every woman. See you next year for an even bigger and better celebration!

Disability, carers and advocates network (DCA)

The Disability, Carers & Advocates in brief the DCA is the identifying name for the West Midlands Ambulance Service network for all staff who have a Disability, are a Carer or would act as a supporting Advocate for either party. DCA was launched in 2019 and has grown in membership very quickly with over 50 members.

The purpose of this group is:

• Is to promote a positive approach to Disability & Carers responsibilities.
• To address issues, topics, that have arisen.
• To provide best practice in terms of shared knowledge and understanding for the benefit of all staff.
• Creating a supportive, nurturing, and inclusive environment were all members of staff with differing abilities are respected and acknowledged for their contribution.

Membership is currently stable with members predominantly at Millennium Point, Navigation Point and Tollgate. The network is keen to reach out to all staff and board members with disabilities (both obvious and hidden), caring responsibilities or who will be advocates for these groups. The DCA network has expanded its leadership to include three co-chairs chairs and an additional vice chair which is a welcome sign in respect of where the DCA network is going. This expansion reflects the enthusiasm of members to step forward and is welcomed by the Trust.

Disability History Month (DHM) 2025.

The Trust’s Disability, Carers and Advocates Network held a drop-in day at Tollgate (HQ) to celebrate Disability History Month in December 2025. The day was supported by the Health and Wellbeing Team who offered health checks and free goodies, there was also representation from the FTSU team, mental health practitioners and SALS, as well as the opportunity for people to get their health checks done.

The day provided a good opportunity to engage with the various teams at Tollgate, including operational staff, PTS, NEOC and EOC colleagues. New Co-Chairs and Vice Chair were appointed as follows: Tom Docherty, Lisa Mcarthy and vice chair – Louise Williams. As a staff network the DCA has continued to support employees in the workplace, promoting the health carer’s passport and helping staff that needed the support of the network on various issues.

Neurodiversity

The DCA network has continued to support the neurodiversity peer support group which was launched in earlier 2024 as a subgroup of the DCA Network. This group aims to provide support to individuals who are neurodiverse by sharing personal experiences as well as raising awareness of supporting colleagues, family and friends with neurodiversity.

It was recognised that neurodiversity was becoming a more openly talked about topic amongst colleagues and that managers needed additional professional advice and guidance in supporting neurodivergent colleagues. In 2025/26, the DCA promoted neuro-diversity events and continued to raise awareness amongst staff of this condition which can have an adverse impact on staff if not managed properly.

WMAS Military Network

The WMAS Military Network continues to provide a supportive and inclusive community for colleagues with links to the Armed Forces. This includes veterans, reservists, cadet instructors, military family members, and anyone with an interest in the Armed Forces community.

The network aims to:

• Support staff wishing to engage in military service, including Reservists and Cadet Leaders.
• Foster an inclusive community for colleagues with military experience or connections, with no barriers to membership.
• Celebrate the past and present military service of WMAS staff.
• Provide signposting to welfare, wellbeing and wider support for veterans.
• Raise awareness across the Trust of the issues faced by military veterans, including appropriate patient signposting.
• Support service leavers transitioning into careers within WMAS.
• Strengthen relationships with Armed Forces charities and partner organisations.

Highlights from the Last Year

Over the past year, the Network has continued to grow and deliver meaningful support and engagement across the organisation:

Employer Recognition Scheme – Gold Re-Accreditation

Following our successful Gold re-accreditation, WMAS continues to be recognised by the Ministry of Defence as a supportive employer of the Armed Forces community. The Network has played a key role by supporting reservists deploying on operations and training, enabling cadet volunteers to deliver youth training, and offering ongoing assistance to staff who have previously served.

Armed Forces Day Engagement

To mark Armed Forces Day, the Network partnered with the Recruitment Team at Himley Hall. This event provided a valuable opportunity to showcase the Network’s work while engaging with the public and promoting recruitment into WMAS.

Remembrance Activities

November was a particularly significant month, with Network members representing the Trust at various Remembrance events and parades across the region. This included participation in local services, parading with reserve and cadet units, and laying wreaths in Ypres. The Network also hosted a reflective event for staff to share thoughts and experiences related to remembrance.

Leadership Development

The Network facilitated access for WMAS staff to leadership training delivered by the Army, supporting professional growth and strengthening military–NHS collaboration.

Charity Engagement

We have maintained strong partnerships with key military charities, including Combat Stress and the Army Benevolent Fund, ensuring staff can access appropriate support and that WMAS continues to contribute to the wider Armed Forces community.

Ongoing Commitment

The Military Network remains committed to collaborating with military organisations, NHS employers, and other key stakeholders. Our focus is to ensure the best possible support for both our staff and our patients with Armed Forces connections.

WMAS Student Network

The Trust continues to support the student staff Network.  Head of Student Engagement, Safety & Wellbeing, Suman Bhambra-Thompson, said: “The Network is aimed at external and internal students, learners and apprentices and sits alongside the five other existing networks.  It is run by the students and apprentices and provide a safe space to chat through issues.  It provides an opportunity for peer support for individuals who may be facing challenge in the learning environment or their studies.”

WMAS Wins National Award

The EDI Lead for WMAS, Mohammed Ramzan was awarded ‘Our Health Heroes Award’ for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion which took place in London. This honour reflected the collective effort of staff at WMAS – to the incredible work of everyone who championed fairness, representation, and inclusivity in healthcare.

Health and well-being should never be determined by race, gender, socioeconomic background, disability, or identity—yet we know there is still work to be done to ensure everyone receives the care, respect, and opportunities they deserve. This award symbolises progress, but more importantly, it reminds us that change happens when we commit to standing up for what is right.

At WMAS we will continue to push boundaries, amplifying voices, and building a future where diversity and inclusion are not just values but realities in every corner of our healthcare system.

Outstanding Contribution’ for Equality and Inclusion at Apna Conference

The annual NHS Asian Professional National Alliance (APNA) conference was held at Warwick University. The conference was an opportunity for WMAS staff who attended to meet fellow, like minded, NHS professionals from across the region and nationally to share best practice. Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Mohammed Ramzan, said: “This was another excellent conference. WMAS has really benefited from attending these events in recent years as we have been able to attract multi-talented and inspirational speakers to come and attend our staff network events as talk about some of the key health topics and sharing their knowledge and expertise for our staff.”

Diversity and inclusion steering group (DISAG)

The Trust supports the DISAG group with representation from a diverse range of staff from across the Trust who are representative of the various roles and departments within the Trust group, including network chairs, staff side representatives, the group is chaired by the Director of People. The DISAG group meets every two months to consult and drive the Diversity & Inclusion agenda forward.  Action plans emanating from WDES, WRES and Gender Pay Gap reports are monitored at DISAG for progress.

NADG [National Ambulance Diversity Group]

The Trust is represented on the national group and attends the meetings regularly. It is a forum of shared knowledge and expertise which drives the Equality & Diversity agenda at national level. We had staff attend the National Ambulance Wellbeing Forum – there has been supported provided for individuals to receive funded intensive rehabilitation support to support them to be able to return to work following significant illness or injury.

Regional Equality forum & Integrated Care System/Board (ICS/ICB)

The Trust are members of the regional Equality forum and ICS/B which allows all Trusts to meet and share best practice and discuss issues which relate directly to the region. The EDI lead from WMAS has been working with the Black Country ICS and chaired the regional equality group in advancing equality, diversity and inclusion and has been working closely with the system in bringing about transformational change for our patients and staff. The following slides describes some of the work being undertaken, both as an individual Trust and as a system:

Chief Executive of West Midlands ambulance Service, in his first blog on the work being carried out issued the following statement:

Chief Executives Blog

ICS EDI Strategy Project 2: Improve EDI Data Collection and Analysis

I am pleased to support the progress that the Black Country ICS is making regarding equality, inclusion, and diversity for our patients and workforce. In 2024, we committed to enhancing our data collection efforts. This work will continue through 2025 and beyond, allowing us to gain an accurate understanding of our position, both as individual Trusts and as a system. This will enable us to continue to implement meaningful and positive changes based on reliable data.

To date we have:

• Developed a system-wide Ethnicity Pay Gap report with recommendations every system partner can adopt. We are supporting all system partners in producing their organisational ethnicity pay gap reports in 2025, which the system will analyse. Each provider will reflect on system actions and, where applicable, build into provider-level action plans for ethnicity pay gaps.
• Produced heat maps and deep dive tools to help provider Trusts identify and address areas with poor performance, allowing us to offer targeted and tailored support. Organisations can use this information to prioritise their actions, such as providing targeted training, coaching for managers, and conducting focus groups and listening sessions.
• Created an ICS Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) data and cultural dashboard to provide system-level oversight of data metrics, which will be reported to the ICB Board.
• Developed an EDI Learning and Development plan linked to Project 5, aimed at improving system-wide EDI learning and development. By utilising the Workforce Race and Disability Equality Standard deep dive tools, organisations can identify key focus areas and encourage leaders to participate in development sessions aimed at fostering cultural improvements in these areas.

Anthony Marsh: Chief Executive, West Midlands Ambulance Service

National and regional reservist forum

The Trust are members of both the local and national group and support Armed Forces Day, Reservist Day and Remembrance Day.

NHS standard contract

The NHS Standard Contract is mandated by NHS England for use by NHS commissioners to contract for all healthcare services other than primary care. This prohibits discrimination based on the nine protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010 and is a mutual obligation on the commissioner and on the provider. Service Condition 13 relates specifically to ‘Equality of Access and Equality and Non-Discrimination.’ WMAS has provided timely assurance reports to commissioners as part of the local agreement.

• Have regard to the need to reduce inequalities between patients in access to health services and the outcomes achieved (s. 13G and s.14T);
• Exercise its functions with a view to securing that health services are provided in an integrated way, and are integrated with health- related and social care services, where they consider that this would improve quality and reduce inequalities in access to those services or the outcomes achieved (s13N and s.14Z1).

Cultural Calendar 2026

The Equality and Inclusion and the Health and Well-being team again this year have collaboratively produced a WMAS cultural calendar for 2026.  The Trust has launched its’ Cultural Calendar for[CB1]  2026 in January.  As a Trust we aim to be as inclusive and diverse as possible. All employee requests to be absent due to religious commitments should be dealt with sympathetically by departments, provided this has been discussed and agreed with their line manager This innovative piece of work was shared with the staff networks and staff so that events can be highlighted and celebrated in a timely fashion during the year. Staff wishing to observe religious festivals and holy days will have the opportunity to discuss and negotiate with their managers in advance. Managers in turn have been encouraged to consider sympathetically requests for annual leave or flexible work schedules from staff wishing to participate in religious and cultural festivals and to be prepared to make reasonable adjustments to working arrangements if they don’t cause undue disruption. 

Conclusion

Despite the challenges presented in the last couple of years with winter pressures and significant hospital handover delays, the Trust has achieved a number of milestones as contained in this report and met the PSED duties.  There is much to be proud of, and the Trust is committed to achieving further progress on all areas of Diversity & Inclusion, and we will continue to strive to make the environment more inclusive for both patients and staff through our engagement strategy. 

Priorities for 2026/27

The following list describes the areas which the Trust will prioritise and will form part of the work plan for 2026/27: 

1. Development of Action Plans based on findings from the WDES & WRES, Gender Pay Gap and Ethnicity Pay Gap data analysis.
2. Continued work with new Commissioning Cluster on Equality and Inclusion Group and the high impact actions
3. Delivery on the new four-year Equality Strategy and Equality Objectives (2025-29).
4. Work in partnership with colleagues across the Ambulance sector including the National Ambulance alliance – AACE.
5. Training for staff on the Equality Impact Assessment process.
6. Increased engagement and recruitment campaigns with seldom heard communities should be a focus in 2026/27 and beyond – this will help the Trust to attract diverse portfolio of staff.
7. Work on the EDS3 assessment and grading for domains for 2026/27
8. Provide timely reports to ICB and commissioners on Equality compliance.
9. Work on the Health Inequalities agenda. 
10. Review, and delivery of the Anti-racism charter training and associated education and awareness package to staff and management. 
11. Growing our Diversity Champions for the Trust.