The list of US private sector giants cancelling their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programmes and removing pledges from their websites since the election of Donald Trump continues to grow.

It must be awful for staff and customers of these organisations who come from marginalised communities and it makes me wonder whether DEI (or EDI as we usually call it here) ever really was a true organisational value for these companies.

While all these companies are USA based, we know they have a huge presence here in the UK and in Europe.

There is a famous phrase, ‘when America sneezes, the world catches a cold’, and though that’s most often used to describe how the US economy affects the global economy.

It’s also relevant to this worrying roll back on diversity, equity and inclusion, and here in the UK we will do everything we can to protect ourselves against catching this nasty virus.

One of our biggest defences against political winds blowing across the Atlantic is the Equality Act 2010, and the marvellous Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).

Under the PSED, public bodies like the NHS must consider how their decisions affect people with protected characteristics. This means they can’t just decide to ignore disabled people’s needs or assume women, ethnic minorities, or older people will magically fit into a ‘one-size-fits-all’ plan.

If you’ve ever felt excluded at a community health forum or a patient group, you’ll recognise how important these efforts can be. The danger of rolling back on inclusivity is that those who don’t fit the ‘norm’ can end up voiceless.

When it comes to Patient and Public Involvement (PPI), the stakes are far too high for us to casually drop our commitment to inclusion.

That’s why, when we work with clients, we make sure to always focus on how everything we do is inclusive of as wide a group of voices as possible. Whether that’s involving seldom heard communities in dedicated focus groups to understand their specific experiences, or ensuring that impact assessments take meaningful account of particular patient cohorts that have the right to fair and equal access to services.

Involving people in healthcare helps make better decisions, and influences everything from the design of GP surgeries to locations of diagnostic services.

If certain groups, perhaps those who don’t speak English confidently, or people living in rural or coastal areas, are always missing from the conversation then the resulting services might not reflect real needs, making access to health care more difficult and health outcomes worse.

The PSED challenges us to think differently. It requires public bodies to be proactive—asking tough questions about who might be missing and how to bring them in.

We will hold on to what matters. Seeing big corporate names drop DEI commitments might make you think the entire world is backsliding on inclusivity.

In the UK the public sector is bound by law (and, let’s face it, moral responsibility) to consider everyone. That’s why the Public Sector Equality Duty will help protect this vital work.

Even if the political climate changes, in the United Kingdom the PSED remains a beacon, reminding us that good ideas—like fair, inclusive healthcare—shouldn’t depend on who’s in power.

So, before the next patient group meeting or community health consultation, keep the PSED front of mind, and reassure people that we won’t be catching the USA’s virus anytime soon.

And if you need a refresher on how it works (or want to convince your colleagues why it matters), get in touch.

When we really listen to the people who stand to see the biggest impact, we get better decisions and take vital steps towards reducing health inequalities.

Blog by: Caroline Latta