Race Equality webinar, held on Monday 11 December 2023

This event built on high impact action four of the NHS equality, diversity and inclusion improvement plan "develop and implement an improvement plan to address health inequalities within the workforce". The event featured examples of how leaders are implementing initiatives that have positively impacted population health by addressing inequalities in the workforce.

Find the slides here.

Hear Dr Ify Okocha and Rachel Clare Evans share Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust's 'Building a fairer Oxleas' (BAFO) programme - informed through intensive 'deep listening' aimed at creating a more inclusive and caring workplace culture. Listen to their session Q&A to learn about their approach, the importance of building trust and psychological safety, what advice they would give to other trust leaders whose board are not 'on-board', and the workings of their shadow executive.

Hear Laura Smith discuss Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust's hyper-local recruitment work. The initiative has been designed to improve inclusivity, reduce barriers to accessing employment opportunities and create sustainability for people within the community. Listen to their session Q&A on the appropriateness of hyper-local recruitment for specialised roles>, their advice on collaborative working with system and community partners, and the impact of hyper-local recruitment on retention rates.

Hear Cavita Chapman and Tom Warner share insights from NHS England's 'We Belong' strategy and IENM evaluation - developed to review the experience of internationally educated nurses and midwives in the Midlands to improve pastoral care and workplace wellbeing. Listen to their session Q&A to hear whether trusts effectively use staff networks when welcoming their internationally educated recruits, and what boards can do to gain assurance that the experience of IERs is positive.

Listen to the panel Q&A where they answered questions on:

• How the initiatives shared in this webinar link back to workforce wellbeing and address inequalities
• How Oxleas widened the 'Building a Fairer Oxleas' work from a race specific lens to support other protected characteristics
• Whether trusts have gathered intelligence on the potential impact of the new immigration laws on staff so leaders can address concerns/wellbeing issues
• What advice would the panel give to boards looking to implement these interventions within their trust.

Resources:

• NHS Provider's next day briefing on NHSE's EDI improvement plan. On Thursday 8 June 2023, NHSE published its first EDI improvement plan. Developed in consultation with diverse staff, staff networks and stakeholders, NHS Providers are pleased to have contributed to this process as part of the working group. Read our briefing outlining the context of the plan and summarising high-impact actions and the accountability framework.
• A guide to supporting your internationally educated workforce. Read our guide for board leaders, which contains case studies from NHS trusts, on how to support your internationally educated workforce.

Chair: Cherron Inko-Tariah – vice chair, The Seacole Group
Panellists:

• Dr Ify Okocha – chief executive, Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
• Rachel Clare Evans – director of strategy and people, Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
• Laura Smith – director of workforce, organisation development and system development, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust and Leeds GP Confederation
• Cavita Chapman – managing director, Inclusive Leadership and Talent
• Tom Warner – clinical workforce equalities manager, NHS England (Midlands).