Walton Strategic Committee created to ‘say no to racism’

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust has recently launched its first Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Strategic Committee to tackle racism head on.

The new committee aims to address racism and the health inequalities faced and experienced by staff, patients and visitors in our communities. The prompt to act was due in part to the inequalities highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Trust has created badges which say ‘we say no to racism’, to highlight the launch and give staff the confidence that racism in any form will not be tolerated.

Chief Executive Hayley Citrine said: “I’m delighted that we’ve been able to establish a committee on this so quickly. We want to ensure that staff, patients and visitors are confident enough to bring their whole selves to work. By launching this, we will be able to actively improve the culture.

“Our work will also feed into the North West Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Strategic Advisory Committee, which is aiming to tackle these societal issues on a much larger scale. The badge is a great symbol of The Walton Centre’s stance of being actively against racism, aiming to address issues before they become problems for our communities.”

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead Andrew Lynch, who this year has been shortlisted for a National BAME Health & Care Award, said: “COVID-19 really has opened ours and many others eyes to the work that still needs to be done in addressing health inequalities in the communities around us.

“With this group we are able to address what really matters to staff and patients from ethnic minorities and ensure they are factored into everyday culture. I’m pleased that The Walton Centre is undertaking this important work.”  

The North West Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Strategic Advisory Committee comprises of over 70 NHS leaders from BAME backgrounds and aims to bring together and harness the collective will of the system, to make a significant and sustained change to what really matters to BAME communities as we advance on the challenge of tackling inequalities.

For more information about the Assembly, you can go to https://www.england.nhs.uk/north-west/north-west-black-asian-and-minority-ethnic-strategic-advisory-group/ and watch a short video here https://youtu.be/UcQOdP7mtGw