13 Nov 2020
The CCG Governing Body this week, through lead Governing Body GP Dr Mike Ejuoneatse who sits on the NHS England NW BAME Strategic Advisory Board, made nine pledges to address the concerns and needs of our BAME employees and communities and reduce inequalities.
St Helens CCG is fully committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. We believe all forms of racism and discrimination are unacceptable and must not be tolerated. There is clear evidence that racism and discrimination cause health inequalities, impacting our communities, patients and colleagues.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also brought into sharp focus health inequalities, social injustice and systemic discrimination, particularly that experienced by Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities.
The Cheshire & Merseyside Health and Care Partnership, of which the CCG is part of, aspires to be recognised for positively promoting and delivering equality and inclusion for all groups in our leadership, our workforce and in the way that we carry out our work.
The CCG Governing Body has therefore pledged its commitment to concrete steps toward reducing inequalities, creating an atmosphere of inclusiveness in our workplaces and cultivating meaningful change for our communities.
OUR LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE
We commit to collectively do more as leaders to increase equality and reduce inequalities, addressing honestly and head-on the concerns and needs of our BAME employees and communities:
1. We will tackle the profound lack of understanding and knowledge of leaders on the issues that BAME people face, not just at work, or in health and care settings, but in society in general
2. We will develop strategic action plans to prioritise and drive accountability around diversity and inclusion and encourage partner organisations to do the same
3. We will ensure diverse representation on key groups, boards and in decision making processes
OUR WORKFORCE
We commit to cultivating working environments where diverse perspectives and experiences are welcomed and respected and where employees feel comfortable and encouraged to discuss equality, diversity and inclusion:
4. We will encourage our staff to positively challenge when they see a lack of diversity and call out inappropriate behaviour or discrimination, even when it is uncomfortable to do so
5. We will actively support under-represented groups and take positive action to ensure our workforce, at all levels, reflects the diversity of the communities we serve
6. We will ensure that for all recruitment, including senior recruitment campaigns, we have a network of equality and diversity representatives to support our recruitment panels and ensure the panel is diverse
OUR WORK
We commit to understanding the impact of our work on all members of our communities and for our work to reflect the diversity within these communities:
7. We will ensure that COVID-19 recovery strategies actively address the impacts on our BAME communities and reduce inequalities caused by the wider determinants of health to create long term sustainable change
8. We will actively engage with and involve BAME communities in our work, ensuring we include people from marginalised and seldom-heard groups
9. We will share best and unsuccessful practices relating to equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives. We will support all organisations to evolve and enhance their equality and diversity strategies and encourage them to share their successes and challenges with others