Update: March 2021
There was an update to our Partnership Board in March 2021 on the progress made on the delivery of the actions in response to the tackling health inequalities for Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities and colleagues review published in October 2020. The action plan was considered by the Board at its meeting in December 2020 where it was agreed an update on progress should be a standing item at future meetings.
A core team has been established which includes a West Yorkshire and Harrogate Leadership BAME Fellow. The purpose of this team is to coordinate activity across our places and organisations to ensure we avoid duplication and amplify good practice to accelerate meaningful change.
The team, supported by colleagues from across the Partnership, supported by the BAME Network has made significant progress in various areas. Key achievements to date include:
Improving access to safe work for BAME colleagues
- Collating a suite of existing resources for those in high risk roles
- Develop the 2021 editions of the ‘Can you hear me’ podcast
- Collating examples of racism in the workplace including lived experience
- Developing a robust anti-racism movement for the Partnership.
Ensuring the Partnership’s leadership is reflective of communities
- Implementation of the BAME Fellowship
- Launch of the Partnership’s Shadow System Leadership Executive Group
- Leadership training and alignment to partnership programmes
- A system wide review of the recruitment and selection process
- Development of a framework to support BAME networks
- Development of white privilege training and allyship models
- Development of a task and finish group focusing on measurement and impact utilising the WRES metrics and the Public Sector Equality Duty metrics.
Population planning
- Health Inequalities Academy launched in Feb 2021, including reducing inequalities related to ethnicity, for Migrant Health and Gypsy Traveller populations
- West Yorkshire Health Inequalities COVID-19 Vaccination Group established
- £1.15 million NHS Charities Trust Granting Funding is now open for applications priority population groups for this funding include refugees and asylum seekers and Gypsy and Traveller communities.
Reducing inequalities in mental health outcomes by ethnicity
- The Partnership Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Autism Programme have considered recommendations and identified actions
- £60,000 Green Social Prescribing Grant funding has been launched and those groups identified as part of the review are included as priority populations for the funding.
There was a conversation around how this is mainstream activity for all organisations and is moving at pace and the need to maintain momentum.
One of the review report recommendations includes the coproduction of an anti-racism movement, which recognises and appreciates that BAME people are not one homogenous population. Integral to any movement is the impact of interpersonal, institutional and structural racism on inequalities in health outcomes for BAME communities. These refer to the range of different issues people might experience. For example, direct experiences of racism from other people, ways in which organisations might act to exclude certain groups of people, and fundamental differences in life opportunities. Racism is experienced differently and to different degrees by different groups of people.
Communication with colleagues and communities must recognise the impact of racism on people’s lives. Any movement developed should amplify communications messages at a local level whilst not making assumptions about language or method. It is also important to consider the impact of racism and digital exclusion and also factor in that racism is also experienced by non-BAME (i.e. White) communities. This should take place through local communication channels and VCSE networks, with high impact visible messages that tackles the issues faced by communities and colleagues head on.
It is important to identify any risks with mitigation early on in the development so these can be fully considered before the movement launch later this year. We will report back on progress to the Partnership Board in September.