Trusts could get public kite mark for race equality, says NHSE

NHS England and NHS Improvement have said consideration should be given to the new mark, which would highlight employers who “perform well in race equality”.

Effectively it would put more pressure on those not doing so, by highlighting their failure to achieve the mark.

NHSE’s latest board papers said it could work similarly to the Athena SWAN charter, which was introduced in 2005 to help recognise firms making commitments to advancing women’s careers in science, technology, engineering, math and medicine employment, in both higher education and research.

The board paper also proposed: “Accountability for organisations that provide career progression opportunities, through [the] creation of an ‘opportunity atlas’ harnessing Workforce Race Equality Standard data, is possible.

“This data visualisation would directly influence an organisation’s talent recruitment potential.”

They said: “Consideration should also be given to the creation of a publicly visible ‘race equality mark’ to encourage commitments to enhance the careers of BAME members of staff and highlight those employers which perform well in race equality.

“This would work in a similar way to the Athena SWAN charter’s recognition of support for the careers of women in STEMM employment in higher education and research.”

They said a “system-wide approach” was required to ensure all organisations adopted “values-based recruitment” for all positions, including senior leadership roles.

It comes as NHSE/I ordered local organisations to complete their risk assessments for all staff who are at risk of covid-19 within the next month, following concern some are not acting fast enough. This is particularly acute among black, Asian and minority ethnic workers.

The report, by chief people officer Prerana Issar and national director for strategy and innovation Ian Dodge, added: “Reciprocal mentoring and seeking 360 feedback from BAME staff and networks, as part of leadership appraisal, should be considered, building on the pre-covid-19 development of a Leadership Compact for the NHS.

“A firm commitment is needed to ensure the leadership throughout the NHS, including integrated care systems, will be representative of the communities that they serve.” Last year HSJ found only one chair or executive lead of a health/care system, across around 80 people, was non white — this has since then slightly increased.  

The papers acted as an update to NHSE/I’s programme of addressing covid-19’s impact on the health service’s workforce and health inequalities, they said.

It outlined some of the next steps which are being considered following Public Health England’s recent reports and recommendations.

Meanwhile, NHSE/I have also set up a new task and finish group to look at race equality and other health inequalities in the wider population and in NHS care — focusing on what should be done in the next stage of the covid-19 recovery.

It will be headed up by Owen Williams, the chief executive of Calderdale and Huddersfield Foundation Trust, alongside “a range of system leaders and voluntary sector partners”, board papers said.