Important message from Richard Beeken, Chief Executive
August 5, 2024
Dear colleagues
Very rarely do I write out to all staff via email, as this is a form of communication which can be overused. Instead, I tend to wait until Fridays and send out my thoughts and reflections on particular issues in the form of my weekly blog, “The Friday Message”. This week, however, I feel compelled to write about a hugely upsetting and important subject and do so before Friday comes. That subject is the violence, racism and thuggery being witnessed on the streets of many towns in England and Northern Ireland and the impact it will be having on colleagues of colour.
Please see link below to a well-crafted message from the Chief Executive of NHS England, Amanada Pritchard, about this subject. Amanda’s message sums up very well indeed, how I feel about this and expresses support to all non-white colleagues, be they British or from other countries. I encourage all colleagues to read it – it is a message for you, our NHS staff:
Any reasonable citizen of our country will be revulsed and deeply upset by what we have witnessed in recent days. There will be many colleagues who, by virtue of their faith or the colour of their skin, will feel anxious and alarmed at this moment in time in their own community, or in the care setting that they work. For those colleagues I would like to express my thanks and admiration to you for the work you do – it underpins #OurNHS and the NHS could not survive without your dedication, service, and strong values. I would also like to express that I stand with you in the seemingly never-ending process of making our own NHS, for all its imperfections, an example of what multi-cultural tolerance and diversity of thought and life experience, can be to the rest of the country. In our Trust, we embody the ambition, respect and compassion we must seek in wider society.”