The latest assessment of race equality in the NHS shows a significant increase in representation of BME people at board level across the country, as the health service continues its drive to reduce gaps in experience of employees from different ethnic groups, in order to support staff and improve patients’ care.
The Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) report measures the experience and opportunities of white and BME people working in the NHS, using nine key indicators including access to promotion and exposure to discrimination.
As well as improvements in representation at the most senior levels of each organisation, the findings include a reduction in the number of BME staff going through the formal disciplinary process and a steady improvement in appointments.
In the capital, all 36 London Trusts now have at least one BME board member compared to only 16 in 2014, while 14.7% of very senior managers in London are now from a BME background.
Over the past two years, the health service has also seen a boost in its medical workforce from BME backgrounds, with a 10.2% increase in BME doctors working in the NHS, an increase in nearly 4,500. In addition, the number of very senior managers from BME backgrounds has increased by 30%.
Speaking at a BMJ event on race and the NHS, NHS Chief Executive, Sir Simon Stevens, says: “The NHS is the largest employer of black and minority ethnic people in the country, and this latest assessment of race equality in the health service shows both how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go."
The data for the 2019 report show:
• Across all NHS Trusts, there were 16,112 more staff from BME backgrounds compared with 2018
• 8.4% of NHS Trust board members were from BME backgrounds, up from 7% in 2017
• An improvement in the past two years in BME candidates’ likelihood to be successful in job interviews in the health service
• The chances of BME staff being taken through disciplinary action have reduced year on year.
