East Lancashire Hospitals Anti-Racist Statement
We can no longer simply be NOT RACIST, We will Actively, Visibly, and Intentionally be Anti-Racist.
We are pleased to be publishing this statement of our commitment to becoming an anti-racist employer. We will be campaigning for this within our organisation and to all our staff and patients besides their friends and families as well as the wider public in local communities. We will strive to achieve this through our actions to influence policy and wider societal factors impacting on Anti-Racism and resultant inequities.
We know that staff from minority ethnic communities in the UK NHS are more likely to experience discrimination, bullying and harassment from patients, public, colleagues and managers due to their ethnic background as revealed by the annual National NHS staff surveys. Minoritised ethnic staff are the subject of disproportionate referrals to formal disciplinary proceedings and comparatively disadvantaged in career progression opportunities and recruitment processes as is acknowledged within the NHS people plan. Health outcomes for minoritised ethnic patients are poorer as evidenced from several National Confidential enquiry reports.
It is well recognised that racial injustices and inequities stem from historical and societal prejudice, racism, and discrimination. We also know that people from minority ethnic backgrounds face similar prejudice, racism, and discrimination not only in the workplace but also in communities as the workplace represents a microcosm of the wider community, we live in. ELHT is not immune from this injustice, and we are committed to compassionately and courageously accepting this with candour and committing to positive change.
The events in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd intensified the need for us to examine what we needed to do as did the whole NHS to become a truly anti-racist organisation . This was furthermore enhanced by the Covid-19 pandemic shining a spotlight on health inequities due to racial disparities and the disproportionate number of BAME deaths among both NHS staff and wider public and patients.
We have already delivered on some of the commitments towards reducing inequities through focussed work with support from our Trust BAME staff network and BAME strategic oversight groups and wider Inclusion networks. We know that we still need to do more to tackle racism in our workplace and in our society given our standing as the largest responsible employer of the community with more than 10,000 staff and added responsibility as an anchor organisation– wherever and whenever it occurs. We commit to intentionally identifying and tackling the systemic, structural, and personalised racism faced by our minority ethnic colleagues in the workplace and those in the communities we support as a responsible employer committed to Anti-racism.
This anti-racist statement expresses our commitment to adding equity to our values, to make meaningful and sustainable change as an employer, campaigning organisation, and a health service provider and to demonstrate our intention to hold ourselves accountable and be judged on our progress on becoming a truly anti-racist organisation. We can no longer simply be not racist; we will actively, visibly and intentionally be anti-racist. We commit to a zero tolerance towards racism and absolute commitment towards anti-racism.
ELHT adopts a zero tolerance towards Racism and Absolute commitment to Anti- Racism
ELHT as an organisation commits to the below intentional anti-racist charter pledges.
To enhance outcomes and quality of lived experience for all our staff, patients and communities we serve.
1. Appoint an Executive sponsor for Race related commitments and support Black and Minority Ethnic – BAME staff network. This pledge has already been actioned at ELHT with our CEO Martin Hodgson committing as the Executive sponsor for the BAME staff network to amplify BAME staff voices, support quality initiatives aimed at reducing inequities and remove any barriers to positive transformational change.
2. Commit at Board level to Zero tolerance to Racism and all forms of discrimination, bullying and harassment. All leaders at ELHT from Board to ward level pledge their commitment to visibly voice and enact the pledges to demonstrable actions towards making ELHT an active, visible, and intentional anti-racist organisation.
3. Include Anti Racism subject as part of regular Board agenda: and commit to appointment to Board of someone with expertise on issues of race equality besides resource investment to deliver our anti-racist programme of work through well founded Quality improvement methodologies.
4. Capture ethnicity data and enable Trust wide transparent reporting through an EDI Dashboard: The dashboard once developed needs embedded across Divisions and Directorates to measure our progress on proportionate diverse BAME representation across all pay bands specifically above pay band 6 and managerial roles besides ethnicity pay gap reporting to build in an accountability and assurance framework with devolved responsibility owned by Divisions and Specialty teams as well as centrally owned by Board.
5. Take action to equitably support ethnic minority recruitment and career and talent progression: Implementing diverse and inclusive recruitment, succession planning and talent management strategies to strengthen BAME representation at all levels in ELHT including a focus on those at above band 6 among all staff groups including management/ leadership roles.
6. Encourage and Support White allies aspiring to commit to Intentional anti-racism: Make it clear that supporting equality/equity in the workplace through intentional anti-racism is the responsibility of all leaders and managers and that we as an organisation encourage and empower more white allies to step into the space of active inclusion through intentional anti-racism.
7. Effective implementation of BAME assembly anti-racism framework: Ensuring that issues of racial justice and equity are embedded in our policies, practices and processes and related culture/strategy work and recommendations of the Anti-Racism framework by BAME assembly are supported to Gold Standard.
8. Advocate for racial justice and equity and improved equitable health provision: by seeking to influence national and local policy to root out racism and inequality through appropriate actions by identifying and acting on opportunities arising from local initiatives and buddying with other national exemplar model sites.
9. Support the BAME staff network in their positive culture change quality improvement initiatives: Providing an active purposeful voice and space for the Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff network to facilitate constructive challenge to our ELHT anti-racist programme of work and to provide a safe space for our minority ethnic colleagues to share ideas, discuss issues and support each other. Executive sponsor to enable to amplify their voices and remove any barriers to progressing transformational positive change through quality improvement initiatives alongside Wider Trust leaders/teams.
10. Re-Launching the reverse mentoring programme: to enhance awareness of the lived experience of minority ethnic colleagues amongst senior leaders and to strengthen their commitment and capability on being anti-racist allies and sponsors for our BAME ethnic colleagues. Support all Board leaders, senior leaders, and managers to receive reverse mentoring as a valuable supportive resource for positive change collectively.