Trust ranks highly for diversity in the UK

The Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has been ranked 20th in The Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers List for its continued dedication to improving workplace diversity.

The Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers is a definitive list of UK based organisations that demonstrate the promotion of all strands of diversity including age, disability, gender, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT), race, faith and religion; the definitive list focuses on representation at management, senior, executive and board level. The list recognises the outstanding efforts of organisations that have begun their journey in attracting and retaining a truly diverse workforce, achieving equality, diversity and inclusion.

One of the initiatives that has been influential is the Trust’s employee engagement programme, Your Voice Counts, which has successfully identified key issues and initiated changes which are important to staff. Following staff feedback one key area of focus for 2015/16 was race equality and the Workforce Race Equality Ideas Implementation Group was subsequently established with staff to oversee work in this area.

Key proposals included an improved talent management process, which has resulted in the recruitment of eight graduates from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds in to a new 12-month programme. The programme is aimed at supporting and developing the graduates to gain the experience and skills needed for management level posts in the NHS.

A programme of learning and development is offered to staff to equip our workforce with the skills, knowledge and competency to effectively support the health, cultural and social needs of individuals. Areas of focus include cultural context, communication, key current issues and challenges, sharing best practice and interactive case studies.

In May 2016, the Trust held an equalities engagement event to encourage and facilitate open discussion with a wide cross-section of staff and a number of areas emerged from the event which will help to develop the Trust’s future equality priorities.

Caroline Bamford, Head of Diversity and Inclusivity at the Trust, said: “We are delighted that the hard work by our staff has been recognised in such a way. The work the Trust has undertaken focussed on both the development of diversity and inclusion within our workforce and in the way we deliver mental health and learning disability services. Our staff work with people with very complex needs and at times this can present many challenges, but the desire from our staff to deliver person-centred care which meets the needs of the diverse communities we serve is always a priority.”

More information at The Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers List