Leading organisations which truly value diversity can listen, process and act on perspectives that are different from their existing norms. This could be challenging for us as individuals – it requires us to give airtime and debate, then demonstrate that those views have been adequately considered and acted on where appropriate.
The processes of listening and acting differently are part of the evidence that staff and patients use to judge whether an organisation feels inclusive, valuing all contributions and enabling everyone to reach their potential.
The NHS Constitution is a foundation document for diversity and inclusion, framing our NHS values and staff and patients’ rights and responsibilities.
Networks are a powerful way to better understand issues, drive progress and gain energy to continue to model inclusive leadership personally and lead it in our organisations.
Read about how Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (DHCFT) has been operating in partnership with the University of Nottingham (UoN) and NHS Future Focused Finance’s Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Colleagues Network in order to establish the ‘reverse mentoring’ programme.
In 2016, there were 16 NHS trusts in England with three or more black and minority ethnic (BME) board members, in 2018 this increased to 29 trusts. By 2019, this increased to eight NHS trust chief executives of BME origin, nearly double the numbers of four years ago. Data also show that BME non-executives in London NHS trusts have increased from 19 in 2015, to 50 in 2019.
There is excellent practice going on all over the NHS to improve focus and performance around Workforce Race Equality Standard. These case studies highlight improvements various trusts have made around recruitment, representation at senior levels and closing the gap in experiences between BME and white staff on discrimination.
Following the recent gender pay gap debate, and as part of our wider work on diversity, Helen McKenna talks about leadership and gender in the NHS with Jane Dacre, President of the Royal College of Physicians, Anne-Marie Archard, Director of the London Leadership Academy, Sam Jones, former Director of the New Care Models programme at NHS England, and Deborah Ward, Senior Analyst at The King’s Fund.
The report was compiled following conversations with a number of male senior leaders who shared their views on the barriers facing women getting to leadership roles in the NHS and how those can be overcome.
Support programmes
The programme nurtures and guides board members and other leaders to embed equality and diversity in their organisation.