Attended by around 60 RCN members, this year’s conference explored the theme ‘Anti-Racism: A Public Health Solution’. Hosted by Joan Sadler OBE, Director of Partnerships and Equality, NHS Confederation, speakers included Dr Gunjit Bandesha, Director of Healthcare Public Health, NHS England North West, and Shabnaz Rahman, Senior Operational Manager- Stakeholder Outreach & Briefing Lead, Windrush Customer Support and Engagement Team at the Home Office.
The day featured a moving tribute to RCN North West Regional Director Estephanie Dunn, who retires next month after a 45-year career in nursing, including 14 years with the RCN, from member Michelle Cox. With the support of the RCN, Michelle won a landmark racial discrimination case against her employer two years ago and she recognised Estephanie’s unwavering support for black and minority ethnic people throughout her long career.
The conference also included the presentation of the RCN Outstanding Achievement Awards, rewarding excellence in enhancing the experience of BAME service users and staff across the health and social care sectors. The nine award winners reflect the wide-ranging initiatives being undertaken across a range of settings, including universities, healthcare settings and hospitals, in both clinical and non-clinical areas. They were recognised for their commitment to ensuring equity in access to healthcare provision for all and in the promotion and further recruitment of new nurses from the BAME workforce.
The award winners are:
The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) team at the University of Salford:
Nominated by Karen Heggs, Director of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Salford, the eight strong EDI team, comprising Professors, Lecturers, Surgeons, Advanced Nurse Practitioners and Medical Statisticians, led a nationwide EDI survey of nurses exploring the barriers to research progress in perioperative practice and their awareness of access to research funding. Following the publication of their findings, the team created a series of research masterclasses, providing the necessary insight to apply for funding to create a national framework for the need to involve black and minority ethnic staff in research projects and how their representation in clinical trials directly influences the participation of global majority patients.
Philip Makin, EDI Coordinator at Cheshire & Wirral NHS Foundation Trust:
Philip was recognised for their tireless work in introducing a range of staff initiatives to promote diversity, significantly increasing the representation of BAME staff across many departments, in turn directly contributing to many staff reporting a greater sense of community and belonging.
Alongside their commitment to staff EDI projects within CWP, Philip has been pivotal in establishing partnerships to promote health and well-being among underserved populations. Their commitment is evident in the success of these collaborations, which have seen increased community engagement.
Gary Flockhart Director of Nursing, Therapies and Partnerships at CWP, said:
“Philip's work has had a profound impact not only on our organisation but also on the broader workforce. Their innovative approach and steadfast commitment have established new benchmarks for ED&I practices within our sector. They are not only a role model within our organisation but also a respected advocate for equality and inclusion in the wider health and care community.
“Philip exemplifies the principles of ED&I through their impactful projects, community involvement, and unwavering support for people. Their invaluable contributions make them a truly deserving recipient of this award.”
International Recruitment team at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust:
The team has been recognised for their exemplary approach to welcoming and settling internationally educated nurses (IEN). From first contact whilst still at home in their native country, to sourcing comfortable accommodation, familiarisation trips and help with everyday activities such as banking and continuing education, the four-person team ensures a warm and familiar welcome to all new recruits.
Such is the success of the approach that it is being emulated at neighbouring trusts, with the Bolton team being commissioned to provide the same service to other IENs.
Clinical Lead for International Recruitment at Bolton NHS FT, Victoria Fletcher-Simm, nominated the team. She said, ‘It is fair to say that this team has become family to all our international arrivals. We are there for the highs, the lows and all the bits in between and the team remains an integral part of this group’s support network. With only four members, the impact of so few cannot be acknowledged enough. They are true advocates for all our international arrivals and their families.’
Professional Education Team (PET) at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust:
Nominated for their exceptional dedication to the welfare of internationally educated nurses (IEN). Following a recruitment drive which lead to the employment of over 400 IENs in four years, the team took on a wealth of additional responsibilities for the pastoral care of the new recruits, sourcing suitable accommodation and successfully winning funding to create a new dedicated role of Pastoral and Accommodation Officer.
Additionally, the team created a focus group to explore the experience of IENs when arriving at and working in WWL, leading to the discovery that many felt unwelcome, discriminated against and passed over for career development opportunities. The PET subsequently escalated their findings to the Trust Board, resulting in trust-wide initiatives to address these issues, including a bespoke collaboration with wellbeing programme Shiny Minds and active bystander training for all Band 6 and above nursing staff.
As a result of the work initiated by PET, WWL has been selected to be the Greater Manchester (GM) trust to represent the regional 90 day ‘Getting to Equity’ challenge pilot, which has enabled a number of career development opportunities in the organisation, such as Chief Nursing Fellowships and a Global Majority Practice Development Nurse.
Okey Ibuzo, Pastoral Carer at Mersey Care NHS Trust:
Okey was nominated in recognition of the pivotal role he played in developing and delivering a comprehensive transition programme for internationally educated nurses and for supporting wards and teams to be equipped for the needs of their new staff. This programme included establishing communication networks before the nurses’ arrival, setting up a buddy system within each divisional or clinical area and ensuring Practice Education Facilitators maintain regular contact and support with OSCE preparations.
Amongst his many achievements, Okey has arranged that all IENs get the opportunity to undertake the Florence Nightingale Foundation leadership programme, liaising with Trust Preceptorship Leads to ensure that all IENs begin a 12-month Preceptorship Programme within three months of obtaining their PIN. This programme has been expanded to include bespoke modules for IENs including Career Conversations once they are established in role.
The Trust has been awarded NHSE International Nursing and Midwifery Pastoral Care Quality Award in recognition of the outstanding work that has been undertaken in this field, work which would not have been completed without Okey’s leadership and dedication to this group of staff.
Naomi Fisher, Clinical Onboarding Team Nurse Lead at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust:
As Clinical Onboarding Team Lead Nurse, Naomi Fisher has been an essential part of the process of welcoming and settling new internationally educated nurses into the Trust, ensuring they are treated equitably and smoothing their transition to a new country.
With Naomi’s hard work, the Trust achieved the Pastoral Care Award for its exemplary care of IENs. Her engagement in the Integrated Care Board’s roll out of anti-racism work has been heavily instrumental in ensuring her Trust participates in the Career Equity Programme. This programme is to give world majority nursing and midwifery staff the opportunity to have a six-month seconded role in a senior banding with support and sponsorship from more senior members of the world majority in the NHS in the North West.
Kulwinder Kaur, Practice Educator in the Division of Medicine at Aintree Hospital, Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust:
Kulwinder was nominated for this award for her commitment to supporting the careers of internationally recruited staff, teaching and assisting them to achieve their clinical competencies. Along with pastoral care and advice, she supports them in their professional development and NMC revalidation.
Kulwinder has been integral in developing and delivering a leadership training programme for newly appointed B6 nurses/deputy ward managers within their division. Because of its success, the surgical division including our other hospital sites, have started to access the programme.
Kulwinder understands the challenges of ethnic minority HCAs and RNs face in the workplace and actively supports other colleagues who face challenges. As a member of the Trust’s Ethnic Minority Nurses’ Forum, Kulwinder also actively contributes to the organisation’s annual celebration event for internationally recruited nurses and AHPs; rallying all staff to engage and showcase their cultural heritage.
Gillian Walker, Patient Experience Matron, Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust:
With over 40 years’ experience working for her Trust, Patient Experience Matron Gillian Walker has been recognised for her exceptional work with the local and wider BAME communities of the city of Liverpool to widen participation, address health inequalities and improve service users’ experience of and access to women’s health services.
Through the strategic development of links between communities, established groups and attendance at health events, Gillian has founded outreach programmes to create pathways to healthcare and welfare initiatives that are relevant to the needs of the local community. As part of that work, she facilitated an outreach programme for subject matter experts from the trust to deliver education and raise awareness of women’s health within a safe space for these women to access.
Amongst her many notable successes have been the creation of programmes to support women who suffer honour-based abuse and harmful practices and also the introduction within her trust of bilingual volunteers, both of which support access to often complex healthcare systems for those for whom English is not their first language.
Josette Niyokindi, Interim Associate Director of Quality, Safety & Improvement, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside:
Josette was nominated for this award as a valued member of the Staff Engagement Network, the BAME Staff Network and the Senior Leadership Forum.
She is actively involved in a range of initiatives including improving equality considerations during the recruitment process, sharing lived experience of staff from ethnic minority backgrounds to drive organisational change and to tackle institutional racism and improving the experience of staff from ethnic minority backgrounds in relation to workforce within the organisation.
Josette has identified through her personal experiences throughout her NHS career, examples of behaviour and practices that actively prevent the global majority flourishing. Rather than focus on the negatives, Josette has chosen to speak out openly in a bid to help others to understand and change.
Josette has delivered presentations to executive colleagues across NHS Cheshire and Merseyside as well as the executive team in Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council and is a mentor to a junior colleague from the global majority helping to empower her to question and challenge practice she experiences.
In addition, Josette is the Global majority lead on the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Leder Board (Learning from lives and deaths of people with learning disabilities and autism). Her challenge has led to the development of a strategic plan to improve the reporting of deaths in underrepresented communities, as well as providing support for wider training for reviewers and professionals when reporting and reviewing deaths.
Congratulating the award winners, Estephanie Dunn, Regional Director of RCN North West, said:
“Our Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic nursing community play a vital role in caring for people and their families across the region and these awards celebrate the unique contribution that they make. We are proud to honour their achievements alongside those who work to address inequalities that this demographic contends with on a daily basis.
“No one, no matter their ethnicity or place of birth, should be denied the same rights and opportunities afforded to others and there are few places where that disparity is more apparent than in the health and care sector. Despite progress made by employers to address race inequality, discrimination in the health and care sector is systemic - and it’s clear it still has a long way to go in overcoming the prejudices that both patients and staff face and to achieve greater equality
“However, hearing how valued our award winners are in their organisations gives me hope that one day trying to fight inequality within the health and care sector will be a thing of the past.” The awards form part of the RCN North West’s annual event to recognise and celebrate the outstanding contribution of nursing staff either from or in service of those from BAME backgrounds who work in health and social care across the region.”
