The West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership (WYHCP) has published a response to the brap report ‘Too Hot to Handle?’
Alongside our WYHCP colleagues and partners, Forum Central is committed to being anti-racist and welcomes the brap report, subtitled: Why concerns about racism are not heard..or acted on. It brings together key learning from:
- a number of significant tribunal cases; and
- survey responses from over 1,300 NHS staff
to explore how healthcare organisations respond to allegations of racism.
Forum Central Response
Forum Central is the collective voice of the health and social care third sector/VCSE sector, we advocate for the third sector to be embedded in the Leeds Health and Care Partnership (The ICB at place level in Leeds).
We are proud to be a part of the Root Out Racism movement in West Yorkshire. Part of this movement is encouraging people to have less ‘fear’ and improved confidence on how we can talk about race, and call it out, something we are passionate about.
We also help run the third sector inclusion working group which brings together third sector leaders and staff members with the aim of sharing learning and collaborating on ways to bring about change. To ultimately make the health and care third sector a more inclusive and diverse sector which is representative of our wonderfully diverse Leeds population.
The report highlights deeply concerning patterns of behaviour, which include; denial, reluctance or refusal to acknowledge race as an issue, a lack of empathy and minimising the harm and impact of racist behaviours. All of which is not ok, it wasn’t then and it isn’t now.
41.8% of respondents left their jobs because of their treatment. This is hugely damaging to the individuals of course, but it is also particularly damaging to our collective health and care system which has workforce retention challenges.
Forum Central echoes the sentiment of the WYHCP response, which states (abridged):
“We see diversity as a strength, share power and risk and have empathy for all.”
“This report is a helpful reflection of what is happening in the wider NHS. We applaud the courage of everyone who shared their experiences and as a Partnership we welcome the recommendations within the report.
Colleagues who find that their experience of racism at work adversely impacts their mental health and / or emotional wellbeing can self-refer for support into the Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Hub. This support is confidential – no report will be made back to your organisation or manager – it is free of charge and open to anyone who works in health and care in West Yorkshire, including volunteers and those who work in the voluntary sector.
We are pleased that so many elements of the work taking place in West Yorkshire aligns with the report’s recommendations. We must also challenge ourselves about whether we are doing sufficient work in West Yorkshire to tackle racism.”
