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Editorial Graham Scott EDITOR

@NSeditor

Talk is not enough – now it is time for action The lack of career opportunities for nurses and healthcare assistants from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds is so well documented it has ceased to be news. It is more worthy of note when a black or Asian person breaks through into a senior role. THE NHS IS MISSING A TRICK This week’s issue features BY FAILING TO MAKE THE MOST Estephanie Dunn, the first black woman to be appointed OF THE TALENT IN ITS RANKS

as an RCN regional director. Her story is inspiring, from her arrival in the UK from the West Indies aged five, to her elevation to one of the RCN’s most important roles. Hopefully others will follow in her footsteps. Also this week, when we join the annual celebration of Black History Month, prominent black nurse Shirley Baah-Mensah explains how her NHS trust in London is taking action to help BME nurses develop into the leaders of tomorrow. The lack of BME representation on trust boards in the capital is nothing short of a scandal given the diversity of London’s population, and the workforce lower down the management chain. It is more than a decade since Trevor Phillips, chair of the now defunct Commission for Racial Equality, said the NHS was like a snow-capped mountain: white at the top and darker at the bottom. Ever since, there has been rather too much talk about improving the prospects of BME staff, when what is needed is action. It is easy for well-meaning, high-powered groups of predominantly white people to issue reports and statements saying ‘something must be done’, but much harder to deliver the cultural change required to ensure that candidates for promotion are selected because of their potential, not their skin colour, social class or gender. The NHS is missing a trick by failing to make the most of the talent in its ranks, and the independent sector’s record is no better. It is time for the white people who run our health services to stop talking and start acting. See pages 23 and 26 Air your views on

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