Anti-racism pledge

Being non-racist isn’t enough. We must be anti-racist. 

In recent times, there has been increasing awareness and understanding of the issues that face people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds – as patients, as colleagues and as members of society. The disproportionate adverse impact of COVID-19 on members of black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Movement, the different experiences of discrimination and access to opportunities between white and BAME staff highlighted in the NHS Workforce Race Equality Standards all demonstrate that we must do more to improve the experiences and outcomes of our BAME patient populations and workforce.

To become an anti-racist organisation, we need to be honest about racism, its existence in the NHS and its impact on our people and communities.

There are more than 383,000 BAME staff working in the NHS, making up almost a quarter of the entire NHS workforce. Through our collaborative role regionally, we can support our colleagues on their journey. However, to do this credibly, it's essential that we take our own steps on our own journey towards greater diversity and inclusion. This is why NHS Cheshire and Merseyside has committed to taking bold and effective action to identify and challenge racism by implementing the Northwest BAME Assembly’s Anti-racism Framework.

The framework is a tool designed to support NHS organisations to become intentionally anti-racist by tackling structural racism and discrimination through collaboration, reflective practice and accountability. We recognise that our commitment to this journey will require continuous review of our progress and our intentional actions for change. 

This will be done by following the Northwest BAME Assembly Anti-racism Framework’s five anti-racism principles: 

  1. Prioritise anti-racism

  2. Understand lived experiences

  3. Grow inclusive leaders 

  4. Act: tackle inequalities 

  5. Review progress regularly 

We want to thank all of our colleagues who are committed to working with us to make our ambition a reality.

You can find out more about equality and diversity at NHS Cheshire and Merseyside here.

Find out more about the NHS England North West Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Assembly Anti-racist Framework here.

 

Raj Jain, Chair 

Graham Urwin, Chief Executive