BME network calls for trust board members to step down

The network claims in the petiton that BME staff are being subjected to “unprecedented levels of racial discrimination, harassment and victimisation” under the current leadership.

A trust spokesman said its management “strongly refute” the claims. He added that the petition is being circulated by “a small group of staff” and follows the outcome of an independent investigation in relation to “misconduct”. The staff are seeking to appeal this outcome.

The Care Quality Commission was told about “racially motivated bullying and harassment” by staff at the trust when inspectors visited in April 2014.

During the inspection, then CQC chair David Prior visited the trust on the invitation of Vivienne Lyfar-Cissé, chair of both the national and local NHS BME networks, to hear the concerns of staff members in the local network. She is also associate director of transformation at the trust.

The local network has made several allegations in its petition. These include:

• A manager who was dismissed for racial harassment was reinstated on the grounds it was her first offence. She was paid to leave the trust following objections from BME staff.
• Another manager, who purportedly showed a black member of staff a picture of a monkey, was initially only required to complete equality and diversity training. However, an appeal panel found there was a case for the manager to answer and following a disciplinary hearing she was dismissed.

The trust spokesman said these two employees were nurses, not managers, and in the first incident the employee was not permitted to return to work and was not paid to leave the trust.

The network also claims that a grievance against Dr Lyfar-Cissé brought by a member of staff has led to the trust appointing a barrister to reinvestigate a claim that has already been investigated and dismissed externally.

A trust spokesman agreed the first investigation did not uphold the complaints against Dr Lyfar-Cissé “but it was critical of her and said she had behaved unacceptably”.

The trust spokesman said a second investigation was launched because both Dr Lyfar-Cissé and the employee who had reported the grievance were “highly critical” of the findings from the first investigation.

The second investigation “found a case to answer” in relation to the initial allegations and “closely related allegations” that followed against Dr Lyfar-Cissé including that she had “directly discriminated against, bullied and victimised a member of [the BME] network”, the trust spokesman said. Eight other network members had a case to answer for “victimisation”, he added. 

The members want to appeal this decision and the trust’s chair, Julian Lee, has said he will chair the appeal with the help of an external human resources professional.

The network says this contradicts the trust’s grievance policy, which states appeals should be overseen by a manager unless agreed otherwise. The staff have told Mr Lee they do not accept him as the chair of the appeal.

Dr Lyfar-Cissé is taking this case to an employment tribunal claiming “discrimination, harassment and victimisation on the grounds of race”.

A trust spokesman said: “We strongly refute these claims. The trust board and leadership team commits substantial resources to positive and proactive race equality initiatives, including significant support to the BME network itself.

“We are also confident that policies relating to discrimination issues are fairly applied. There are many recent examples where we have taken disciplinary action in cases where race discrimination has been identified, and we will continue to do so.

“We must, however, be equally able to investigate and take the appropriate action in cases where misconduct or discrimination is alleged against BME staff using the same policies and processes as apply to all employees.

“The trust believes the petition is being circulated by a small group of staff and follows the outcome of an independent investigation in relation to misconduct. The trust will not comment on individual employment cases, which are confidential. However, the trust is clear that the purported facts which are being used to justify the petition have been selectively assembled to create an inaccurate impression.”

The trust also said the meeting where the network took the position of “no confidence” in the board was attended by around 50 of its 600 members.

Dr Lyfar-Cissé said: “The NHS is failing BME staff and patients on racial grounds and evidence of this is most apparent at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust.

“It is clear from the evidence that trust policies are not being applied fairly. I am one of the BME cases referred to by the trust and it is a fact that a first external investigator found that the allegations of misconduct against me could not be upheld.

“The trust then appointed a QC to reinvestigate the allegations against me and she found me guilty together with eight other BME staff who had lodged their own collective grievance. We have been denied the right to appeal because the chair Mr Lee is insisting on hearing the appeal contrary to trust policy. The internal processes have not been concluded and these matters are also now the subject of an employment tribunal.

“It is the case that the trust has dismissed staff for racial discrimination, however this of itself is not evidence that trust polices are being applied fairly when one considers the circumstances which gave rise to these dismissals as outlined in the network’s petition which is supported by the membership.”