Equality is about fairness and ensuring all individuals have the same value and rights regardless of their background or who they are. In the health and social care settings, equity is about ensuring that all individuals have equal opportunities to have an open access to health services allowing every service user to receive treatment on the basis of their needs. It is important that health services such as in hospitals and care homes practice and promote equality. This ensures certain patients or service users are not favoured, therefore denying others of their legal rights. If equality is not practiced, it may lead to poor quality treatment or at worst being limited or denied access to services. For example, if someone was refused entry to a care home or hospital primarily because of their race, this would be in breach of Race Relations Act 1976. Equality is also required to ensure that everyone receives equal benefit from the service in relation to his or her individual needs. On the other hand, equality is not simply for the benefit of clients in a health setting, it also must be practiced regarding employment. For example, it is wrong to not offer a nurse’s position to someone who is capable of the job because he/she has a physical impairment. This would be in breach of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and 1997. Another example is that they must ensure everyone is paid the same without discrimination against sex or any other minority. For an instance, in a hospital, female nurses get paid less than male nurses. This would be actively promoting inequality. Any society that ensures its people has equal chances and equal treatment, is building for its future by encouraging equality of opportunities for all.
Diversity is used to describe the differences between all individuals. This includes differences in gender, race, age, culture, religion, social class, child-rearing practices, appearance, employment...