BETSI Cadwaladr University Health Board has become the best ranked Welsh health employer by lesbian, gay, bi and trans equality charity Stonewall in its Top 100 Employers list for 2019.

The health board is the only Welsh health organisation to make the latest Stonewall list and has achieved its highest ever ranking, jumping 14 places from 51st place in 2018 to 37th place for 2019.

This year’s Top 100 was the largest ever with 445 employers from across different sectors, vying for a coveted spot in the list.

All of the Top 100 are members of Stonewall’s Diversity Champions programme which helps employers to embed LGBT inclusion across their workplaces, in their services and with the communities they are part of.

Sally Thomas, head of equality and human rights for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board said: “We are absolutely delighted with our Stonewall ranking for 2019. It represents the hard work our Health Board has done to ensure that LGBT+ people feel supported, equal and welcome in our organisation.

“We work across the health board promoting equality for all the protected characteristics outlined in the Equality Act.

“We work to improve the way everyone accesses healthcare and works for the organisation, and one of our key areas of focus, over the last year, has been on LGBT+ issues.

“We’ve had a brilliant year and it’s amazing to see that the work we’ve done has been recognised by Stonewall.

“We work hard with our stakeholders, our patients and our staff to better understand the issues they face when accessing our services.”

The board’s inclusion on the list tops a very successful 12 months for the Equality and Human Rights team who also celebrated winning a Health Board Award for their equalities work in November 2018.

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