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Exclusive by Jennifer Sprinks Former NHS chief executive Lord Nigel Crisp fears black and minority ethnic representation at nurse leadership level has worsened in the ten years since he published a ten-point race equality action plan. Lord Crisp addressed the House of Lords last week asking how many executive directors of nursing in the NHS are from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds. A response is due on February 10. ‘This issue seems to be worse than before, so I want to raise its profile,’ he told Nursing Standard. ‘It is an important issue.’ Lord Crisp, who now works on health promotion and nursing-related projects in Africa, added: ‘If the NHS is going to serve people well, we need to make the best of everyone and the talent of all NHS staff. I feel we are not getting the best out of BME staff.’ His 2004 action plan included a call for all NHS chief executives to mentor
a BME member of staff. When Lord Crisp was NHS chief executive, he mentored nurse Yvonne Coghill. Ms Coghill later became the national lead for the five-year Breaking Through programme, launched in 2007, which aimed to spot talented BME people
‘IT IS CLEAR THAT BIAS, WHETHER UNCONSCIOUS OR OTHERWISE, STILL OCCURS’ in the NHS and support them in achieving director-level positions. According to the Department of Health, there were five BME directors of nursing in England out of a total of 195 in September 2013, equivalent to 2.6 per cent. This is despite the fact that roughly 14 per cent of England’s population is BME. There are 180 white nursing directors and ten have not stated their ethnicity. ‘Between bands 5 and 7 there are thousands of BME nurses, which puts into perspective the fact that
there are only five directors of nursing,’ Ms Coghill said. In June last year, a report by employment expert Roger Kline entitled Discrimination by Appointment, used data from 30 randomly selected English trusts. It showed that white applicants are more than three times as likely to be appointed to a post as BME applicants. NHS Employers head of equality, diversity and human rights Carol Baxter said it is often difficult for BME staff to seek promotion because there are so few role models in senior positions from the same backgrounds. ‘It is clear that bias, whether unconscious or otherwise, still occurs. We also see it happening outside of nursing – for example, there is under-representation in some medical specialisms,’ she said. ‘The NHS must have zero tolerance on discrimination.’ See voices page 28
RCN works with trust on discrimination A London NHS trust is to run a year-long pilot to test some of the RCN’s measures for eliminating discriminatory practices. The trust, not yet named by the RCN, is expected to begin working with the college next month to try various interventions for tackling discrimination, including running workshops for staff on recognising different types of bias. RCN diversity and equalities co-ordinator Wendy Irwin said: ‘We want people to be comfortable with the idea that most of us have some form of bias and that if they start to look at their bias they can start to deal with it.’ The pilot is part of a three-year project called Is that Discrimination?, which was launched in May last year in response to data showing that black and minority ethnic nurses in England are hugely over-represented in disciplinary and grievance procedures compared to white colleagues. The RCN is asking nurses about types of workplace discrimination and to share best practice for its elimination. It will publish an online pack in June on recognising and challenging discrimination.
NURSING STANDARD january 22 :: vol 28 no 21 :: 2014 9 Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 24, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
ALAMY
BME representation at senior nurse level is getting worse, says ex-chief
If you have a news story call the news desk on +44 (0)20 8872 3144 or email [email protected]
Exclusive by Jennifer Sprinks Former NHS chief executive Lord Nigel Crisp fears black and minority ethnic representation at nurse leadership level has worsened in the ten years since he published a ten-point race equality action plan. Lord Crisp addressed the House of Lords last week asking how many executive directors of nursing in the NHS are from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds. A response is due on February 10. ‘This issue seems to be worse than before, so I want to raise its profile,’ he told Nursing Standard. ‘It is an important issue.’ Lord Crisp, who now works on health promotion and nursing-related projects in Africa, added: ‘If the NHS is going to serve people well, we need to make the best of everyone and the talent of all NHS staff. I feel we are not getting the best out of BME staff.’ His 2004 action plan included a call for all NHS chief executives to mentor
a BME member of staff. When Lord Crisp was NHS chief executive, he mentored nurse Yvonne Coghill. Ms Coghill later became the national lead for the five-year Breaking Through programme, launched in 2007, which aimed to spot talented BME people
‘IT IS CLEAR THAT BIAS, WHETHER UNCONSCIOUS OR OTHERWISE, STILL OCCURS’ in the NHS and support them in achieving director-level positions. According to the Department of Health, there were five BME directors of nursing in England out of a total of 195 in September 2013, equivalent to 2.6 per cent. This is despite the fact that roughly 14 per cent of England’s population is BME. There are 180 white nursing directors and ten have not stated their ethnicity. ‘Between bands 5 and 7 there are thousands of BME nurses, which puts into perspective the fact that
there are only five directors of nursing,’ Ms Coghill said. In June last year, a report by employment expert Roger Kline entitled Discrimination by Appointment, used data from 30 randomly selected English trusts. It showed that white applicants are more than three times as likely to be appointed to a post as BME applicants. NHS Employers head of equality, diversity and human rights Carol Baxter said it is often difficult for BME staff to seek promotion because there are so few role models in senior positions from the same backgrounds. ‘It is clear that bias, whether unconscious or otherwise, still occurs. We also see it happening outside of nursing – for example, there is under-representation in some medical specialisms,’ she said. ‘The NHS must have zero tolerance on discrimination.’ See voices page 28
RCN works with trust on discrimination A London NHS trust is to run a year-long pilot to test some of the RCN’s measures for eliminating discriminatory practices. The trust, not yet named by the RCN, is expected to begin working with the college next month to try various interventions for tackling discrimination, including running workshops for staff on recognising different types of bias. RCN diversity and equalities co-ordinator Wendy Irwin said: ‘We want people to be comfortable with the idea that most of us have some form of bias and that if they start to look at their bias they can start to deal with it.’ The pilot is part of a three-year project called Is that Discrimination?, which was launched in May last year in response to data showing that black and minority ethnic nurses in England are hugely over-represented in disciplinary and grievance procedures compared to white colleagues. The RCN is asking nurses about types of workplace discrimination and to share best practice for its elimination. It will publish an online pack in June on recognising and challenging discrimination.
NURSING STANDARD january 22 :: vol 28 no 21 :: 2014 9 Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 24, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
ALAMY
BME representation at senior nurse level is getting worse, says ex-chief
