BASCD EDI Statement v6

At BASCD, our mission is to “work with and support members and partners to improve population oral health and reduce inequalities”. We are dedicated to the principles of dental public health (DPH) that  extend beyond healthcare delivery to matters of equity, social justice, and human dignity. We recognise that achieving true oral health equity requires an unwavering commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in every facet of our work.

The Equality Act 2010 provides legal protection for 9 characteristics: marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, age, disability, gender reassignment, sex, sexual orientation, race and religion or belief. At BASCD, we understand that these protected characteristics are not to be viewed in isolation and understanding their intersectionality will help to promote equality and justice. We will work to ensure that legislative and policy requirements related to the 9 protected characteristics are integrated into all aspects of our operations.

To pursue its EDI aims and objectives, BASCD has brought together a diverse range of voices within the DPH field and formed a sub-committee known as the Diversity Action Group (DAG). This expert advisory group will strive to take forward BASCDs EDI commitments as outlined below.

Definitions

Equality means providing equal opportunities to everyone and protecting people from being discriminated against.

Diversity means recognising, respecting and valuing differences in people.

Inclusion relates to an individual’s experience within his/her workplace and in society, and the extent to which they feel valued and included.

Commitments

BASCD is committed to:

  1. Supporting the BASCD DAG to enable and support the delivery of its work plan.
  2. Adopting a proactive approach to EDI by incorporating it as part of everything we do and not simply as a tick-box exercise.
  3. Valuing and embedding EDI in our language, policies, culture, training, research, and leadership.
  4. Provide EDI training opportunities for both the dental public health and wider dental workforce (as appropriate).
  5. Provide an EDI review of policies, guidance and procedures ensuring they are compliant with the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).
  6. Partnering and sharing examples of good EDI practices with other organisations.
  7. Supporting actions that address discrimination in all forms, exclusion, under-representation, and differential attainment within the BASCD membership and the wider dental workforce.
  8. Supporting workforce development that promotes EDI principles.
  9. Regularly monitor and review our EDI processes so that we remain internally and externally accountable to ourselves, the dental profession and the public.

This statement was written by a team of BASCD members (BASCD Diversity Action Group) after consultation with BASCD members. 

This statement was written by [Sharon Uppal – Specialty Registrar in Dental Public Health] and edited and agreed by the BASCD DAG committee on [25/03/2024]: Fiona Ellwood BEM (Chair of National Oral Health Promotion Group), Yasmen Elsadek (Dental Research Manager), Ilona Johnson (Consultant in Public Health and Honorary Professor of Dental Public Health; Chair of BASCD Consultants and Specialists Group), Easter Joury (NIHR Clinical Lecturer and Specialist in Dental Public Health), Charlotte Klass (Consultant in Public Health/Dental Public Health), Vanessa Muirhead (Clinical Reader and Honorary Consultant in Dental Public Health), Lwazi Sibanda (Specialty Registrar in Dental Public Health) and Albert Yeung (Consultant in Dental Public Health and Current Chair of the BASCD DAG).