Mid Yorkshire is proud to be anti-racist | News

Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust is proud to launch our commitment to being an anti-racist organisation.

We know that racism leads to poorer health outcomes, unequal experiences at work and it goes against our values as an organisation. It harms staff, patients and affects the care we are here to provide.

In recent years, we have worked hard to make our Trust a fairer place to work and receive care, but we know there is more that needs to be done.

The commitment reflects our promise to continue our anti-racism journey, and has three core elements:

· We pledge to take clear actions to challenge racism.

· We expect our senior staff to lead by example. They will role model inclusive behaviours.

· We expect everyone to actively call out racism where we see it.

Brent Kilmurray, Chief Executive and the Trust’s Executive Champion for race, said: “We want everyone to feel valued, respected and supported across our Trust.

“We know that some staff, patients and carers here have experienced racism and that is unacceptable. It goes completely against the values which guide everything we do.

"There is more we must do and this commitment is part of our ongoing efforts to ensure our Trust is actively anti-racist.

"The NHS is for everyone, and difference should not lead to disadvantage, both for staff and for the communities we serve.”

For our communities, we continue to improve the care we provide that respects culture and religion. This includes targeted work such as having a dedicated Consultant Midwife for Health Equity, who helps to enhance access to maternity care for people in our community.

Our campaign to reduce instances of violent and aggressive behaviour towards staff has put a spotlight on some of the racial abuse staff have been subjected to.  

Our Values into Action programme has helped to make inclusion part of everyday practice, with efforts to remove barriers in our recruitment practices, including through more diverse recruitment panels. This has played a part in the proportion of Trust staff from the global majority increasing by 9.1% since 2019-20. This progress has taken us closer to the national average and we will continue to work hard to make improvements in this area, alongside striving to increase diversity across roles and teams.

Our Shadow Board programme supports the closing of the gap in diversity at a senior leadership level, and has received excellent feedback from those who take part, as well as the Board itself.

Together, we can make a lasting change.