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Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 27 October

October 27, 2023

I will never tire of acknowledging how privileged we are to work in one of the most diverse communities in the country. And I am proud that much of our SWB family comes from those communities that we serve. I can honestly say our diversity is our strength and we should remember and celebrate that.

And it is because some of our colleagues come from or have deep connections with countries far and wide, that I know some of you will be deeply affected when there is conflict in the world. The latest conflict in Gaza and Israel is a stark reminder of this enduring and tragic, reality. Please remember that our organisation is there for you whatever you may be going through, and I want to use this opportunity to remind you of the support available to you.

  • Confidential support in the form of free counselling is available to those who want it through occupational health. To access this service please call 0121 507 3306 between the hours of (8.30am – 1pm, Monday – Friday). Alternatively, you can email swbh.ohreferrals@nhs.net where you expect a reply within 48 hours. In addition, the wellbeing hub also offer confidential chats for all colleagues which can be accessed by calling 0121 507 3306 or emailing. swbh.ohreferrals@nhs.net.
  • If you wish to access a similar service outside of the above hours, please call Samaritans on 116 123. This helpline in available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
  • Alternatively, you can speak with our chaplaincy service. The chaplaincy service is trained and skilled to support colleagues of any single religion. The team includes men and women from all the major faiths established in our wider community. You can reach out to the team by calling 0121 507 3552 or 0121 507 4055. Note: During evenings, weekends and bank holidays, chaplains of all faiths cover emergencies and can be contacted through the switchboard.

I urge you to use these services should you need to. Please also speak to your line managers for further support.

As I talk about embracing diversity, I wanted to share a letter that is going from all chief executives in the Black Country to our equality, diversity and inclusion leads, in response to a letter from the Secretary of State, effectively calling for the recruitment of roles promoting this agenda to be stopped.

Our response to the Secretary of State’s letter reinforces our full support and commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, and think it is proper to share it in my blog this week.

“We wanted to write to you as health leaders from across our Integrated Care System in response to the letter issued from the Secretary of State on Thursday afternoon. As a system and as individual organisations we have done so much already working with you as Chairs and your members in our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion staff networks to improve the experience of colleagues and citzens across the system.

We agree with the Secretary of State that we should spend all of our funding appropriately but recognise we still have so much more to do together :-

  • We need to continue to improve the experiences of our staff from all backgrounds and ensure as organisations we have the right approach to achieving that and learn from each other
  • We need to ensure the NHS is a rewarding, welcoming and attractive career prospect for future generations from all communities of the Black Country where people can achieve their great potential and have rewarding careers
  • We need to continue to listen to communities to ensure our services are developed to be accessible to and to meet the needs of our diverse communities.

 We, therefore, want to reassure you of our shared continued commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion. We recognise this is a priority area of focus for our organisations and we will continue to support investment where it is appropriate and reasonable to do so.”

Have a good week.