The Workforce Race Equality Standard (WDES) is a set of nine specific measures which enables the Trust to compare the workplace and career experiences of black and minority ethnic (BME) and White staff. The Trust uses the data to develop and publish an action plan. Year on year comparison enables the Trust to demonstrate progress against the indicators of race equality. Five metrics are taken from the Electronic Staff Record (ESR) and the remainder are taken from the staff survey. All percentages relate to those who completed the staff survey. The Trust has seen slight improvements across all but two of the measures in the last 12 months, although improving staff experience still requires some significant improvement.
1. Name of organisation
- The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
2. Date of report
- Month: May
- Year: 2023
3. Name and title of Board lead for the Workforce Race Equality Standard
- Christine Brereton – Chief People Officer
4. Name and contact details of lead manager compiling this report
- Karen Pearce – Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (People)
5. Unique URL link on which this Report and associated Action Plan will be found
6. This report has been signed off by on behalf of the board on
- Date: 25 May 2023
- Name: Christine Brereton, Chief People Officer
Background narrative
7. Any issues of completeness of data
- A comparatively small number of unknown/null data relating to ethnicity of current staff remain
8. Any matters relating to reliability of comparisons with previous years
- None
9. number of staff employed within this organisation at the date of the report (March 2023)
- 15,943 (excluding bank and agency staff)
10. Proportion of BME staff employed within this organisation at the date of the report?
- 14.61% (Full Time Equivalent (FTE))
The proportion of total staff who have self–reported their ethnicity?
- 98.31%
12. Have any steps been taken in the last reporting period to improve the level of self-reporting by ethnicity?
- Fully implemented Employee Self Service.
- Full roll out of the ESR employee portal complete.
- Employee Self-Service portal now includes a portlet to notify staff if they have not updated their equality and diversity details in the past 12 months and allows them to update their record directly from the portal.
11. Are any steps planned during the current reporting period to improve the level of self-reporting by ethnicity?
Plans to use robotic process automation to increase staff reporting of ethnicity.
13. What period does the organisation’s workforce data refer to?
- April 2022 – March 2023
Workforce Race Equality Indicators
14. Percentage of staff in each of the AfC Bands 1-9 and VSM (including executive Board members) compared with the percentage of staff in the overall workforce. Organisations should undertake this calculation separately for non-clinical and for clinical staff
Non-Clinical Workforce 2022 and 2023 (headcount)
Clinical Workforce 2022 and 2023 (headcount)
| Ethnicity Data 2022 | Ethnicity Data 2023 | |||||
| Band | % White of whole Clinical Workforce | % BME of whole on-Clinical Workforce | % Not Recorded of whole Clinical Workforce | % White of whole Clinical Workforce | % BME of whole Clinical Workforce | % Not Recorded of whole Clinical Workforce |
| Band 1 | 0.02% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.02% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Band 2 | 15.43% | 1.68% | 0.21% | 13.75% | 1.28% | 0.20% |
| Band 3 | 5.56% | 0.45% | 0.10% | 5.37% | 0.47% | 0.07% |
| Band 4 | 4.59% | 0.50% | 0.09% | 3.96% | 0.29% | 0.06% |
| Band 5 | 21.28% | 5.59% | 0.42% | 19.90% | 8.41% | 0.52% |
| Band 6 | 16.24% | 1.20% | 0.36% | 16.50% | 1.54% | 0.30% |
| Band 7 | 11.03% | 0.45% | 0.20% | 11.32% | 0.45% | 0.18% |
| Band 8A | 2.69% | 0.15% | 0.05% | 2.79% | 0.14% | 0.07% |
| Band 8B | 0.89% | 0.02% | 0.02% | 0.87% | 0.02% | 0.02% |
| Band 8C | 0.39% | 0.00% | 0.02% | 0.40% | 0.00% | 0.01% |
| Band 8D | 0.08% | 0.00% | 0.01% | 0.07% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Band 9 | 0.01% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.01% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| VSM | 0.02% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.03% | 0.00% | 0.01% |
| Consultants | 5.41% | 1.58% | 0.15% | 5.74% | 1.85% | 0.19% |
| Senior Medical Manager | 0.22% | 0.03% | 0.00% | 0.22% | 0.06% | 0.00% |
| Non-Consultant Career Grade | 1.55% | 1.06% | 0.06% | 1.49% | 1.22% | 0.07% |
| Trainee Grades | 0.14% | 0.07% | 0.03% | 0.07% | 0.04% | 0.04% |
| Other | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.01% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Totals | 85.52% | 12.77% | 1.71% | 82.51% | 15.76% | 1.73% |
- 98.31% of staff have recorded their ethnicity.
16. Relative likelihood of staff being appointed from shortlisting across all posts.
- Data for reporting year: 1.06
- Data for previous year: 1.52
17. Relative likelihood of staff entering the formal disciplinary process, as measured by entry into a formal disciplinary investigation.
- Data for reporting year: 0.87
- Data for previous year: 1
Trust data identifies BME members of staff are less likely to enter formal disciplinary processes.
Employee Relations data forms part of the equality dashboard launched in January 2022.
18. Relative likelihood of staff accessing non-mandatory training and CPD
- Data for reporting year: 1.21
- Data for previous year: 1.24
Trust data identifies BME members of staff are less likely to access non-mandatory training and Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
19. KF 25. Percentage of staff experiencing harassment, bullying or abuse from patients, relatives or the public in last 12 months
- Data for reporting year: White 25.9% BME 28.1%
- Data for previous year: White 26.8% BME 29.5%
BME Staff Network continues to grow and engage in raising awareness.
WRES Improvement Team in place.
20. KF 26. Percentage of staff experiencing harassment, bullying or abuse from staff in last 12 months
Data for reporting year: White 22.1% BME 30.3%
Data for previous year: White 22.7% BME 32.8%
21. KF 21. Percentage believing that trust provides equal opportunities for career progression or promotion.
- Data for reporting year: White 63.1% BME 50.2%
- Data for previous year: White 62.3% BME 43.5%
22. Q17. In the last 12 months have you personally experienced discrimination at work from any of the following? b) Manager/team leader or other colleagues
- Data for reporting year: White 6.0% BME 20.3%
- Data for previous year: White 6.5% BME 20.6%
23. Percentage difference between the organisations’ Board voting membership and its overall workforce.
- Data for reporting year: BME -8.9%
- Data for previous year: BME -4%
24. Are there any other factors or data which should be taken into consideration in assessing progress?
None
25. Organisations should produce a detailed WRES action plan, agreed by its board. It is good practice for this action plan to be published on the organisation’s website, alongside their WRES data. Such a plan would elaborate on the actions summarised in this report, setting out the next steps with milestones for expected progress against the WRES indicators. It may also identify the links with other work streams agreed at board level, such as EDS2. You are asked to provide a link to your WRES action plan in the space below.
- https://www.newcastle-hospitals.nhs.uk/about/trust/equality-diversity-and-inclusion/workforce-race-equality-standard/
26. Organisational Priorities Going Forward
Of the 9 indicators there has been some small positive improvements and whilst welcome the Trust still has some significant challenges. Despite the initiatives put in place, the WRES data still identifies some areas that are concerning for the Trust specifically around:
Culture/behaviours
Indicator 6 (percentage of staff experiencing harassment, bullying or abuse from staff in last 12 months) and Indicator 8 (percentage of staff experiencing discrimination at work from a manager/team leader or other colleagues).
The People Priorities work for 2023/24 will be linked directly to the NHS People Promise aimed at improving staff experience and retention. It is evident from the WRES data that there needs to be some specific focus around cultural awareness and race discrimination.
One of the seven People Promise indicators is that “We are Compassionate and Inclusive” and we will work directly with our Race Network Groups and hold focus groups directly with staff to understand what actions we need to take to improve staff experience for BME colleagues. We will develop a specific action plan with time bound actions. This may include training in cultural awareness, case studies, learning and education, just and learning culture approach and where appropriate taking more formal action.
In addition, through further development of the data /dashboard we will look to identify hotspot areas through the newly developed clinical boards and introduce intense Organisational Development (OD) support as necessary.
Empowering Staff Networks
Formalise Executive Sponsorship of the staff networks.
- Training for staff network Chairs and Co-Chair – stage two of this training aims to take the staff networks to the next level to promote more of the system 2 working within the staff network group.
- A self-led programme for Executive Sponsors to elevate network impact.
- A maturity report/develop session to provide the Trust with a deeper understanding of where our networks are in terms of progressions, strengths and gaps.
Report of Karen Pearce
Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (People)
16 May 2023
