A commitment to pro-actively tackling racism and encouraging colleagues and patients to speak up against it has resulted in a prestigious award for East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (ELHT).
The Trust was presented with a certificate for reaching the bronze standard of the anti-racism framework operated by the North West Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Assembly.
The framework encourages organisations to progress from a passive stance of being against racism to one where they actively campaign and call out discrimination, encouraging people to be more assertively anti-racist, with a zero tolerance approach to poor language and behaviours as part of creating an inclusive culture as a whole.
Chairman of the Trust Shazad Sarwar received the honour during the Trust’s first anti racist summit, which was the culmination of a two-week programme of events and the launch of a new anti-racism campaign.
He said: “I am pleased we have taken this important step to become an anti-racist organisation with the clear aim of bringing patients and colleagues together to create an inclusive culture, where we are all valued equally and enjoy a positive experience across the Trust.
“As part of this we have made and published that commitment openly, launched a straight-talking anti-racism campaign and held an anti-racism summit as part of a ‘Big Get Together’ programme, where training and a range of activities were available for colleagues who wanted to get involved.
“Whilst we hear and see so much that is good about our culture, it’s important that we acknowledge it isn’t the case for everyone and, particularly in recent months, we have seen overt racism, abuse and civil unrest on our streets and in our communities, which plays into our health care settings too.
“A lot of us cannot imagine how this feels or believe that others perpetrate these ugly, often criminal behaviours and actions – but this Trust will not stand by and allow anything of that nature to go unrecognised or unchecked.”
The summit heard from leaders on what work is taking place to address health inequalities within local communities, as well as more about the Trust’s plan to become a truly inclusive, anti-racist organisation, including work to develop improved reporting mechanisms and support for colleagues.
ELHT recently published an anti-racism charter, along with a statement outlining its commitment to becoming an anti-racist employer and an invitation for colleagues and patients to pledge their support and sign up to the anti-racism ask.
The statement states: “We know that we still need to do more to tackle racism in our workplace and in our society – 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.”
If you want to know more about ELHT’s journey to become an anti-racist organisation click here or to make a pledge and share your support, click here.