Gender pay gap reports
Learn more about the gender pay gap at Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity.
About the gender pay gap
Our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) strategy, launched in March 2021, outlines our commitment to creating an equal, diverse and inclusive workforce, including a focus on identifying and addressing gender inequality and bias within the organisation.
Our gender pay dap data is an important (but not the only) measure of gender equality in our workforce, and one that will help to inform our plans and activities as we continue to work towards our EDI goals.
We are committed to reducing the gender pay gap at GOSH Charity and while we have seen some improvements, we recognise that there is still work to be done to become the equal and inclusive organisation we aspire to be.
Gender pay gap 2021/22
Our most recent pay gap results cover the 2021/22 reporting period, with a snapshot date of 5 April 2022.
At 5 April 2022, GOSH Charity had 222 employees.
Our gender balance at this date was 172 women (77.5%) and 50 men (22.5%).
No employees declared their gender identity outside of the categories of man or woman within this snapshot. For this report, we have used the terms ‘gender,’ ‘man,’ and ‘woman,’ although we know that for some people, this will be a declaration of their biological sex.
While this number (fewer than 250) precludes us from the requirement to publish our Gender Pay Gap details each year, in the interest of transparency and our commitments to equality, diversity, and inclusion, we choose to do so.
It should be noted that in an organisation of our size, a small change in employee numbers can cause a significant shift in our Gender Pay Gap.
Following the decision by the Government Equalities Office and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to suspend gender pay gap reporting in 2020, we have taken the opportunity to change the way we report on the pay gap so that we report on our data in the same year as the snapshot date.
This means that for 2021/22 only, there is, in effect, a ‘catch-up’ year, where we publish two year’s data, the snapshots on 5th April 2021 (which has already been published) and the 5th April 2022 snapshot, which will be published internally and on the Government website following the Committee. This is our 2nd Gender Pay Gap paper published for this 21/22 ARA, which accounts for data from the 5th of April 2022 snapshot.
The results
Our gender pay gap data is an essential measure of gender equality in our workforce and will help inform our plans and activities as we continue to work towards our EDI goals.
Like many charities, we have a predominantly female workforce, and more than three-quarters of GOSH Charity's workforce is female. Our team of five Directors, led by CEO Louise Parkes, comprises four females and one male.

The charity's mean gender pay gap was 11.4% in April 2022.
Our mean gender pay gap improved by 4.3% from 17.7% in 2020 to 13.4% in 2021 and improved by a further 2.0% to 11.4% in April 2022.
- The median gender pay gap has also improved by 2.3% from 19.1% in 2020 to 16.8% in 2021, and this improved further by 3.2% to 13.6% in April 2022.
- There is now a higher proportion of females in the upper middle (79%, an increase of 3%) and upper quartile (65%, an increase of 5%) than last year, our highest since we began gender pay reporting.
- The rise of females in the higher quartiles has also been accompanied by a decrease of 1% in 2021/22 in the proportion of females in both the lower quartile and lower middle quartiles compared to 2020/21. The increase in males in the lower quartiles and the increase of females in the upper quartiles is favourable for reducing the gender pay gap.
- Whilst we have achieved continuing success in reducing our gender pay gap, we recognise that we continue to have imbalances in the four quartiles, e.g., we have too many females in the lowest quartile and too few in the highest, compared to the ratio of females to males in the workplace. One of the reasons for the imbalance in the highest quartile is the preponderance of males in the highly paid specialist roles, e.g. Technology.
- Both issues impact our ability to reduce the gender pay gap, which is a key area of focus for us.
- While not paid positions, as of 21 July 2022, our Board of Trustees is expected to comprise 5 females (38%, including the Chair) and 8 males (62%).
Financial bonuses
Whilst the Government data refers to ‘bonuses’ within its gender pay gaps reporting requirements, this is not the best description of our pay and award system as we do not pay bonuses to any staff.
However, here ‘bonuses’ cover the ABCD and long-service award vouchers we provide for staff recognition. Vouchers are generally in increments of £25, and most are £50 vouchers; 2 females received awards higher than this between 2021 and 2022.
- Awards were made to 63 people; 71% were female, and 29% were male.
- Based on our total number of employees, this meant that 26% of females received an award, and 36% of males received an award
- For each gender, the median is £50, with all but one who got a £25 voucher being female. All individuals who received over £50 were female.
- This means that we have reduced the median bonus gap over the last year and now have a median bonus gap of 0%.
- The mean recognition award for females was £14.10 and £17.50 for males, resulting in a mean gap of 19.4%, which is a 13.5% improvement from 32.9% in 2021.
Closing the gender pay gap
- Continue to embed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion training and practices and our Values to ensure a positive work environment for women
- Revisit our recruitment practices through a gender equity and inclusion lens.
- Look at our flexible working, parental policies and other benefits that can encourage women to apply for promotional positions within the workplace. We will look at this through an intersectional framework, with compounding identities such as race/disability.
- Review leadership development options for women, including coaching and mentoring options, to increase female representation within the highest upper quartile.
- Ensure our well-being focus tackles issues that could impact retention and progress for women in the workplace; for example, supporting females through our Menopause pledge and contact and support to females on maternity leave and female returners.