Our response to Lord Mann’s review on tackling racism and antisemitism

Our Chief Executive Dr Sara Munro shares the Trust's response to the review by Lord John Mann on tackling racism and antisemitism in the NHS.

On 4 June Lord Mann published his review into tackling racism and antisemitism within the NHS with recommendations to support making services safe for all patients, communities and colleagues. On the same day NHS England wrote to all NHS Trusts with a set of actions we must take in response.

This review comes at a time of increased political and civil unrest which has emboldened displays of racist behaviour – and which we know have affected colleagues and service users across the communities we serve. Please remember support is available from your local leadership team, from our Staff Health and Wellbeing Team, from our Chaplaincy Team, our Workforce Race Equality Network, and our Freedom to Speak Up Guardian (including anonymously) to name a few.

The Trust Board were able to give this matter serious and lengthy consideration at a workshop in late June, which included reflection on the work that has already started and how we can build on existing commitments.

The first thing to say is that any form of racism, be it antisemitism, islamophobia or any other form, is something we are committed to eradicating. But we know we have a way to go. In the last year, we’ve seen significant increases in staff experiencing abuse from patients and the public, and from each other. As a Trust we have more staff reporting discrimination at work than similar NHS trusts. There needs to be a firmer response to this.

I am pleased to report that there is already a lot of good work going on across the Trust, some of which I have referenced below. But we need to go further if we are to create an environment where everyone feels safe, respected and able to thrive.

As a starting point and to set the tone, all members of the Trust Board will be set objectives around reducing discrimination and racism and will undertake new anti-racism training when it becomes available. That is one of the recommendations of Lord Mann’s review.

My response to his other recommendations is set out below.

To join NHS England in signing up to the NHS Race and Health Observatory Seven Anti-Racism Principles.

The NHS Race and Health Observatory (RHO) developed the Seven Principles of Anti-Racism to help healthcare organisations transition from passive pledges to tangible, workplace actions. These principles are designed to dismantle structural, institutional, and interpersonal racism to improve patient safety, strengthen leadership, and protect staff.

The seven principles are:

Demonstrate leadership by naming racism – explicitly and consistently.
Understand and acknowledge – how structural, institutional, and interpersonal racism deeply impact healthcare access and health outcomes.
Meaningfully involve racially minoritised individuals and communities.
Collect and publish data.
Identify racial bias – by continuously auditing and check clinical tools, medical devices, and operational processes for hidden biases.
Apply a race critical lens – applying scrutiny to how our work may affect minority groups.
Evaluate and reflect – anti-racism work requires ongoing reflection rather than treating diversity goals as a one-time checklist.

These principles have been used in the work led by our Health Equity team and have now been formally adopted by the Trust Board. Find out more about them here.

Ensure implementation of the Violence Prevention and Reduction Standard, including data capture and use to target improvement with affected groups, monitored via the NHS Oversight Framework.

I am pleased to report that work has already started and is being led by colleagues in HR, Nursing and Health and Safety. They are focusing on:

Supporting a better understanding of where and how incidents occur,
Identification of patterns and risks,
Improving reporting and support following incidents affecting staff, and
Involving colleagues, ensuring staff engagement and staff experience actively shape and guide the work.

Prepare to implement the [now published] NHS Staff Standards.

Since the publication of Lord Mann’s Review, the new NHS Staff Standards have been published here on the NHS England website. They set clear minimum expectations for employers, focusing on:

line management,
health and wellbeing,
violence prevention and reduction,
tackling racism,
championing sexual safety, and
promoting flexible working.

Our People and Organisational Development colleagues are reviewing all the work that we are currently doing in support of these standards and more information about them and how they’ll be implemented will be coming out soon.

Adopt the new government definition of anti-Muslim hostility.

The Trust has fully adopted the government’s definition of anti-Muslim hostility, outlined here on their website. I expect to see it appear or be referenced in the development of relevant policies or guidance on acceptable behaviours in the workplace going forward.

Ensure all staff have completed the NHS Core Skills Framework module on Equality, Diversity and Human Rights (EDHR), which includes content on antisemitism and Islamophobia.

At LYPFT this refers to the Equality Diversity and Human Rights Level 1 compulsory training module that all staff must complete every three years. This can be reviewed and retaken at any time via our Learn system.

In addition to this, I would also recommend the Fairer Healthier Leeds Health Equity Development Programme which gives health and care staff skills and confidence to reduce health inequalities. It can be accessed via the Leeds Health and Care Academy website.

Ensure all staff complete the new bitesize module co-created with faith leaders in the NHS when it becomes available (with the exception of those who have completed EDHR mandatory training in the last 6 months).

We will ensure this module is incorporated into our compulsory e-learning schedule for all staff when it becomes available.

Ensure colleagues, staff representatives, patients and communities are aware of your actions through your internal and external communications channels and are appropriately engaged in further developments to address antisemitism and all forms of racism locally.

Staff who follow the Trust’s work will know that we have strong commitments and regular outputs related to staff engagement, staff health and wellbeing, equality and diversity, faith and health equity.

We will continue to drive this forward through relevant work programmes and listen to feedback, such as from our Workforce Race Equality Network (WREN) and our Freedom to Speak Up Guardian, as to the difference its making.

I am also aware of the great engagement work that our Chaplaincy Team is doing particularly with staff, and our Health Equity Team is taking forward with local communities helping to better understand the needs of the diverse populations we serve, and how to continuously improve what we do.

The Trust takes staff engagement very seriously, and we monitor feedback through things like staff survey closely. We also pay attention to other forms of intelligence such as reports from our Freedom to Speak Up Guardian, who is able to receive anonymous reports, and more informal feedback from colleagues.

This includes tackling the recent increases in staff experiencing abuse from patients and the public, from other colleagues, and eliminating discrimination in the workplace.

As our core business is mental health, learning disability and neurodiversity care, we know that we face unique challenges compared to those in physical health settings who are able to adopt a more robust “zero tolerance” type approach. But that should not stop us from making things better and our entire Trust Board is committed to seeing those improvements through.

Thank you for your continued dedication to duty through what is a turbulent and uneasy time. Please continue to speak out and speak up so we can continue to improve your working lives.

Sara Munro

Chief Executive

July 2026

Page last updated: 21st Jul 2026 9:27am