Hospital steps up efforts to ensure staff diversity

Staff from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds will soon have their own network at Bath’s Royal United Hospital. The trust is taking proactive steps to address discrimination and unconscious bias after a report found that the backgrounds - collectively known as BAME - make up a tenth of its overall workforce but represent less than two per cent of senior staff. The trust board itself, which is supposed to broadly represent the wider population, features no one from a BAME background. Bath and North East Somerset is 94.6 per cent white. In contrast, BAME staff are well represented in medical roles and make up 32 of the hospital’s 255 consultants, or 12.5 per cent. But it is more difficult for BAME staff to find work in the first place, as a white person shortlisted for a job was 1.4 times more likely to get it in 2017/18. This is an improvement on the previous year, when a white candidate was 1.88 times more likely to be appointed. More than 90 per cent of white staff believed that the trust provides equal opportunities for career progression but for BAME workers the figure had slipped from 68 per cent in 2016 to 65 per cent in 2017. White and BAME staff reported harassment, bullying and abuse from patients, relatives or the public in similar measures last year but seven per cent more BAME workers reported such issues from their colleagues than their white counterparts. Nearly one in five BAME staff employed by the RUH said they had suffered discrimination from their manager, team leader or other colleague, compared to one in 11 white workers. A spokesman for the trust said it takes its duty seriously to promote equality and diversity among its workforce. He said: “We aim to recruit and retain a workforce which represents the rich diversity of the local population at all levels, offering recognition and support regardless of background. “We acknowledge that more work is needed to further improve the working experience and career progression of BAME staff across a number of areas. “So far this year we have held a diversity and inclusion event and small focus groups for BAME staff. “As a result of these events, BAME staff have fed back they would welcome the opportunity to develop a staff network. “Through this network we hope to identify staff who wish to progress their career and provide them with tailored support including mentoring opportunities. “We note that BAME staff report higher levels of harassment, bullying and violence from patients, relatives and staff and we are working to address this.” The spokesman added: “We have also recently reviewed our recruitment and selection training and are developing this further to support our managers to understand unconscious bias in relation to selection processes.”