Black Lives Matter – a joint message from Sally Morris, Chief Executive; David Uzosike, acting BAME Network Chair and Sean Leahy, Executive Director of People and Culture.
With the demonstrations currently taking place across the world and in the UK in response to ‘Black Lives Matter’, we want to re-confirm that as a Trust we condemn racism, prejudice or any discriminatory behaviour against people who are Black, Asian, or of any minority ethnicity.
We continuously endeavour to make improvements in our organisation for BAME staff, and are proud of the work we have undertaken on the Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES), our Reverse Mentoring program and our involvement in the NHS Stepping Up programme.
In responding to COVID-19, we have worked hard to ensure that we support those who are disproportionately affected, including our BAME colleagues. We have worked closely with our BAME Staff Equality Network, our Equality Champions, the CQC and other NHS Trusts to make sure that we provide support that meets the needs of all of our staff at this difficult time.
We understand that not only is equality important, but so is equity; making sure we provide extra support to those who are more at risk of prejudice, discrimination or disadvantage in our organisation, our services and our communities. We strive to make improvements in these areas and to protect and support those that have experienced inequality, and will continue to do so.
We are all in this together. Many of our teams have talented and dedicated BAME staff members that we could not do without and we want to embrace and celebrate the differences that make us unique.