We would like to thank Mr Surash Surash, Consultant Neurosurgeon and Ms Karen Pearce, Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (People) for their hard work in producing this report which reviews the data about pay gaps and career progression experienced by Black and Minority Ethnic Staff in Newcastle Hospitals.
This is a ground breaking report, the first comprehensive review of its kind, and is being used to inspire positive dialogue and action to address race inequality in the workforce. #FlourishAtNewcastleHospitals is our cornerstone organisational development programme with the purpose of enabling every member of staff to liberate their full potential at work and an important part of this is supporting our people to be their authentic self.
We recognise and celebrate the value that difference and diversity brings, our core values are built around it, and our Board members are highly visible in their support for inclusion and in championing change for staff and patients regardless of their ethnicity.
Our goal is to create a representative workforce
We want to be instrumental in delivering a health service where equality, diversity and inclusion are embraced and evident in the everyday work of staff. Our goal is to create a representative workforce where there is equality of employment opportunity and career development and our staff need to be assured of action, not just words.
Our Ethnicity Pay Gap Report was the first comprehensive review looking into the pay gaps and career progression experienced by Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) staff at a single NHS organisation in England. Talking about race equality is still much harder than it should be; both across society and specifically in the NHS.
Some of the information makes difficult and uncomfortable reading but it’s important that we reflect on it, be challenged by it and think very deeply about the active role that we can all play in making the NHS a more equal place for all of our staff.
Action comes from awareness and understanding
Action comes from awareness and understanding and the report includes a number of recommendations that have been incorporated into our Single Equality Action Plan.
Recent events including the impact of COVID-19, the data from PHE’s rapid review into the elevated risks and outcomes for people from BAME backgrounds, including the health inequalities, and the Black Lives Matter movement have reinforced our resolve to affect change.
As an indication of our commitment, our more recent positive actions are summarised below:
- We are proud of our staff network groups; our BAME Staff Network group continues to grow, and has been an active partner engaging and working collaboratively in raising awareness and supporting our ability to improve the staff experience. A subgroup is working towards submission of our Workforce Race Equality Data, and in recent months have taken steps to work with colleagues across the system to develop a regional BAME Staff Network in Newcastle, the first meeting of which was held in January 2020.
- Last year, in partnership with other health organisations across the region, we hosted our inaugural BAME staff recruitment event to promote equality of opportunity in working for the NHS and to support our goal of ensuring our workforce is diversely representative of the community we care for. The event was very well attended and over 20% of candidates that applied for jobs at the Trust following the event were successfully appointed. We are delighted that we’ve been shortlisted, alongside our partner organisations for the Inclusive Recruitment Award by the Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion.
- In October 2019 we held our inaugural Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Staff Conference, with over 300 attendees. The event included national and local speakers who shared personal insights and data pertaining to the inequalities that still exist with the NHS. Throughout the event the Trust demonstrated both transparency in its data and its intention and commitment to changing this position. Our BAME Staff Network colleagues were involved in planning the event and the programme was developed following listening to feedback from focus groups with BAME staff.
- Sadly, within the NHS, there is an abundance of research evidence to demonstrate that BAME staff are more likely to be investigated or disciplined than any other ethnic group. Our own Workforce Race Equality (WRES) data shows this is not the case at Newcastle Hospitals. However, to further ensure confidence in our processes we introduced the role of Cultural Ambassador in April 2020. The Cultural Ambassador (CA) programme is a national initiative developed by the Royal College of Nursing providing independent support, as a neutral observer in all formal investigations involving staff from a BAME background providing advice to the investigating team on equality, diversity and cultural bias issues, and to date we have trained 5 Cultural Ambassadors.
- We acknowledge that our workforce is not currently reflective of the community we serve and the position is worse when we look at those in leadership positions. Our aim is to increase BAME representation across the Trust and increase BAME leadership capacity so we have the best range of talent, skill sets and experience available to us, and a workforce that broadly reflects the community it serves. To support this objective, we’ve taken positive action through the introduction of diverse recruitment panels for all of our very senior staff and consultant appointments, and have plans to roll this out further. Introduced early this year, we have facilitated diverse representation on the appointment panels for 15 senior leadership posts (including medical and dental consultant posts) and 2 Non-Executive Director posts at shortlisting and appointment stage and we continue to positively encourage applications from those who are under-represented at this level within the Trust.
- In our recruitment advertising, we positively encourage applications from people who are under-represented in our leadership roles. The Trust has also actively participated in a national ‘Aspiring Non-Executive Director’ programme. This enables more diverse candidates to be supported to apply for roles at Board level where there is currently under representation, and provides a secondment to shadow our own NEDs. The first programme commenced October 2019.
- We identified the need to develop new and emerging leaders and our Leadership and Talent Management Strategy sets out our ambitions including developing a leadership community that is inclusive and representative, ensuring we have a pipeline of successors for key roles/workforce groups. The NHS ‘Stepping-Up Programme’ provides a leadership development programme for aspiring BAME colleagues who work within healthcare, to create greater levels of sustainable inclusion through addressing the social,organisational and psychological barriers restricting BAME colleagues from progressing. We are supporting members of staff to participate in this programme as well the Frontline Forum (cohort 3), and we’ll use the learning to support and shape local policy.
- In June 2020 we launched our BAME mentoring programme, the aim of which is to enable those working at a senior level to understand the challenges staff from diverse backgrounds can face in the workplace, reflect and learn from those experiences. As role models, these colleagues invest in fostering sustainable change in the diversity of our workforce. For Mentors, in building those relationships, we hope it productively expands their experience, and increases their confidence to influence and shape developments and positively impact their own career development.
- We have 52 members of staff taking part in the process including our Chief Executive and some of our Board members, and plan to evaluate the impact of this programme on our goal of improving under representation and diversity in leadership positions.
- We acknowledge the need to enable all staff to speak up and raise any concerns. Building on the role of the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian (FTSUG), we are looking to expand a network of Freedom to Speak Up Guardians and introduce a BAME FTSUG to enable and support BAME staff to raise concerns.
- We recognise the need to measure whether these actions are making a difference. To monitor progress, equality dashboards are being developed, to support our operational leaders understand the position in their own areas and act on any emerging issues.
The safety of our staff has been paramount
COVID-19 has presented particular challenges for our BAME staff. The safety of our staff has been paramount during the pandemic, and we’ve ensured a sustainable supply of PPE for staff working at the front line. Due to our concerns about the reports nationally of the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on BAME colleagues in the UK, we reviewed our own local data comparing BAME and white staff relating to the impact of COVID-19 and in particular, staff absence due to self-isolation, shielding and confirmed cases. We then used the data to inform our decision-making and to co-develop a proposal in consultation with our BAME Staff Network members. The outcome was:
- Ethnicity was added to our existing risk assessment to embed the discussion in existing processes
- Protecting the health and wellbeing of our staff was our top priority and we wanted to outline the measures we had put in place to support this, and to encourage staff to raise any concerns to ensure support was offered. We worked collaboratively and in partnership with occupational health and trade union colleagues to develop resources and provide support.
- All BAME colleagues received two personalised letters, from our Chief Executive, Director of HR and Chair of Staff Side. This proactively encouraged a discussion and advised staff to make arrangements for a risk assessment with their line manager. The letter also provided details of the avenues through which to raise concerns and gave a reminder about the wellbeing and support resources available to them.
- As a direct result of our engagement and actively listening to feedback and concerns raised by the BAME Staff Network, in implementing the proposal, we did not make the risk assessment mandatory, nor did we mandate the outcome. We wanted to assure staff that the purpose was to ensure we discharged our health and safety responsibilities to a group of staff which our own data indicated were vulnerable.
- A managers’ ‘Guide to Conversation’ was developed, providing guidance on the process of risk assessment, but more importantly, including guidance on how to initiate a conversation around ethnicity.
- A Trust-wide communication via our CEO’s blog and in our COVID-19 Daily Bulletin explained why the Trust was adopting this approach.
- Our BAME Staff Network has implemented a weekly virtual ‘drop in’ session facilitated by the Chair of the network. This provides a safe space for staff to have the opportunity to talk freely, share concerns or obtain advice and guidance. The launch event was attended by our CEO and the Medical Director. The Medical Director continues to attend all meetings and actively supports the process. We are encouraged to note that participation in these engagement events is growing.
The Trust Board is committed to sustained, measureable improvement.
Professor Sir John Burn and Dame Jackie Daniel
Surash Pearce Report – 2019
