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Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 17 June

June 17, 2022

This week I had the privilege, along with a few other colleagues, to attend the NHS Confederation annual conference and expo in Liverpool. The first time there has been such a face to face get together for three years.

When you attend such events, you usually expect four things out of it:

  • Connecting with old colleagues or friends again
  • Making new connections which may add to your Trust’s future service provision or benefit staff experience
  • Listening to Secretaries of State for Health on their “vision” for the future
  • Learning things or being inspired by others

On the last point, I attended one session which really struck a chord with me. It was hosted by the renowned British Nigerian broadcaster David Olusaga and was a talk about how the NHS and immigration to the UK are symbiotically intertwined – one would not be successful without the other.

The NHS came into being, only 12 days after the first of the Windrush generation entered the UK. The biggest problem in 1948 when the NHS began and now, is workforce shortage in key clinical roles. Without immigration, we would never have met the needs of the NHS then and without it now, we would be in an even more parlous state. 33% of the medical workforce in the English NHS are from outside the UK. 100,000 nurses came from the Indian subcontinent to the NHS between 1948 and 1973 alone.

Despite these undeniable facts and the reliance we have on colleagues from abroad, the response of government is often counterintuitive. The response of their colleagues to their arrival can so often be discriminatory and ignorant. To illustrate these two points, government response in the 1950s to the poor welcome and discrimination was to “limit” the numbers of immigrants entering the service. Government response now (culture wars, anti-wokery, anti EDI expertise in the NHS) is also likely to be counter-productive. Likewise, in a recent survey conducted by the BMA, over 50% of doctors from outside the UK have suffered such abuse, microagressions or discrimination, that it has negatively impacted on their mental health.

The COVID-19 pandemic has further demonstrated the health inequalities and poor lived experience of the population and of black, asian or minority ethnic staff alike.

All of this was set out in the speech by the host, and all of it resonated with me. It has made me even more aware that racism and discrimination are not just historical issues that faced the Windrush generation, but they are still with us now. The discourse of our national politicians is disingenuous and inconsistent in this space, so doesn’t help. So, we need to counter that by being consistent and upstanding in our anti-racism and discrimination. Let us control what we can control. This means:

  • New Trust values, being launched in September, which will have inclusion at their heart
  • A Trust people plan, to drive the people element of our new strategy, which will have engagement of all, cultural improvement and a just culture, at its heart
  • An equality, diversity and inclusion approach, which must focus on improving the lived experiences of all staff with protected characteristics

Racial discrimination and cultural acceptance is a difficult, nuanced and multi-layered field. But we cannot and will not ignore it. We can all play our part, by seeking to understand how our colleagues feel, to understand their personal history and family history. Many will have a back story which was built on immigration and each story will be unique. Lets celebrate our diversity.

Have a good week.

Richard