Our People Experience & Culture Strategy sets out our ambitions to be a brilliant place to work. Central to this aim is how we develop our culture and compassionate Leadership. We want all our staff to be valued for who they are and to be able bring their whole self to work. We want to celebrate diversity and lived experience and be inclusive. To do this we expect our leaders and managers to create compassionate, inclusive and patient outcome focused cultures where our values are evident every day and all staff can thrive. Spectrum has five core values which are Working Together, Integrity, Respect and Recognition, Compassion and Innovation.

Although we have achieved much in creating an environment where people feel we provide equal opportunities and take action against any discrimination, we are not complacent, and our priorities are reviewed on an annual basis and feedback is sought from our workforce through our staff survey.

We can use the results of this Gender Pay Gap report to assess:

• the levels of gender equality in our workplace
• the balance of male and female employees at different levels
• how effectively talent is being maximised and rewarded

Through analysis of the report’s findings the challenge at Spectrum and nationally is to eliminate any gender pay gap. However, the gender pay gap should not be confused with equal pay.

Equal pay deals with the pay differences between male and females who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs, or work of equal value. It is unlawful to pay people unequally because of their gender. Spectrum supports the fair treatment and reward of all staff irrespective of gender or any other protected characteristic.

In producing this report, we recognise that there is further work we can do to reduce the gender pay gap and we remain committed to a workplace that respects and harnesses equality and diversity.

We will work to improve the gender pay gap by undertaking the actions set out at the end of this report.

The gender pay gap shows the difference between the average (mean or median) earnings of men and women. Used to its full potential, gender pay gap reporting is a valuable tool for assessing levels of equality in the workplace, female, and male participation, and how effectively talent is being maximised.

What is the difference between the Gender Pay Gap and Equal Pay?

The gender pay gap differs from 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.

The gender pay gap shows the differences in the average pay between men and women. If a workplace 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. In some cases, the gender pay gap may include unlawful inequality in pay, but this is not necessarily the case.

Guidance: Managing Gender Pay Reporting – ACAS

It is a legal requirement for all relevant employers to publish their gender pay report within one year of the ‘snapshot’ date: this year’s date being 31st March 2026. All employers must comply with the reporting regulations for any year where they had a headcount of 250 or more employees on the ‘snapshot’ date.

Relevant employers must follow the rules in the regulations to calculate the following information:

• Their mean gender pay gap
• Their median gender pay gap
• Their mean bonus gender pay gap
• Their median bonus gender pay gap
• Their proportion of males receiving a bonus payment
• Their proportion of females receiving a bonus payment
• Their proportion of males and females in each quartile pay band

Most trusts and healthcare providers will fall into the above category and must comply. With this in mind, Electronic Staff Record (ESR) have developed a number of reports which can be accessed and undertake the required calculations to produce the gender pay gap data. We provide full transparency on where we are and where we need to improve.

The required six calculations are:

• gender pay gap as a mean and median average;
• bonus gender pay gap as a mean and median average;
• proportion of male and female employees receiving a bonus payment;
• proportion of male and female employees when divided into four groups ordered from lowest to highest pay.

The report uses information extracted from ESR through a defined national report.