Finally! NHS scraps its ‘diversity and inclusion’ targets to cut red tape
The NHS has axed targets on diversity and inclusion as part of a drive to cut red tape and place a greater focus on patient care.
health chiefs have issued a slimmeddown list of objectives for 2023, with the number of things managers ‘must do’ slashed from 130 to 35.
It means trusts will no longer be held accountable for improving the service’s black, Asian and minority ethnic ‘disparity ratio’. This refers to whether the proportion of minority ethnic staff in local organisations is reflected among their senior leaders.
Bosses were previously ordered to boost representation by ‘delivering the six highimpact actions to overhaul recruitment and promotion practices’.
The new NHS england planning guidance for trusts and integrated care systems is significantly shorter than previous years at just 20 pages, compared to between 30 and 60. It comes six months after former health secretary Sajid Javid said there were ‘ too many working in roles focused solely on diversity and inclusion’ in the health service.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay has ordered the NHS to publish data showing how many staff work in each of its departments, including those focused on diversity schemes.
In the introduction to the new guidance, NHS england chief executive Amanda Pritchard says: ‘We will support local decision making, empowering local leaders to make the best decisions for their local populations and have set out fewer, more focused national objectives.’
A health source added: ‘ The NHS has set out the key priorities for the system which is focused on what makes the most difference to patients and delivers the best value for taxpayers.’
habib Naqvi, director of the NHS Race and health Observatory, told the health Service Journal, which analysed the changes:
‘Workforce race equality data tell us how important it is for the NHS to keep steadfast in its pursuit of understanding, and actively improving, the experiences of its diverse workforce. ‘The NHS is the largest employer of black, Asian and ethnic minority people in england; it is vital that these staff are provided with equality of opportunity with regard to recruitment, career progression and promotion, as afforded to their white colleagues.’ health service bosses have come under fire for spending millions on ‘woke non-jobs’ as frontline workers strike for better pay. More than £1 million of roles related to ‘equality, diversity and inclusion’ (EDI) are on offer in hospitals and trusts across england and Wales, with most salaries dwarfing that of the average nurse, the Daily Mail has revealed.
It comes as the NHS struggles with a record 7.2 million waiting list and battles walkouts by nurses and paramedics.
One trust is advertising for a ‘mindfulness lead’ to help staff meditate, for £40,000 a year. Another is looking for someone to ‘act as a change agent’, for up to £54,000, while a third health board offers its ‘lived experience training lead’ free yoga and Pilates sessions.
Of the 20 EDI-related adverts analysed, two thirds offered higher salaries than the average nurse’s annual pay packet of £33,384. The most lucrative ad, for an ‘associate director of equality, diversity and inclusion’, paid almost three times this figure at nearly £97,000.
Other actions dropped from this year’s guidance include reducing 12- hour waits in emergency departments towards zero and ensuring 65 per cent of handovers take place within 15 minutes of patients arriving at hospital.
A small number of new targets have been introduced, including for hospital trusts to see 76 per cent of Accident & emergency patients within four hours by the end of 2023/24. The Royal College of emergency Medicine has warned that up to 500 people a week are dying to due to ambulance and treatment delays.
TV presenter Dr hilary Jones yesterday blasted the Prime Minister over his handling of the NHS, warning it was at risk of collapse.
Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, the GP shared the experiences of ‘heartbroken’ frontline doctors and said if the situation ‘doesn’t change very quickly, the NHS is finished’.
Dr Jones described how staff were in tears at the end of their shift ‘and when they return to the next shift, the same patient is still waiting to be seen after 24 hours’.
he referred to a group chat between 13,000 doctors who work on the front line and in primary care, quoting one post: ‘In our hospital, we have such a long wait to get into the acute medical unit that we have a junior doctor on the roster called the “car triage”. This means they spend their whole shift checking on people waiting outside in their cars.
Dr Jones said another message came from a doctor who said that twice this month they have had
‘Checking people waiting in cars’
patients ‘ miss the window’ for thrombosis stroke treatment ‘because they’d been sat in an ambulance in our hospital car park for too long’.
The doctor added: ‘ That’s two people with life-changing disabilities that could have been prevented. I am heartbroken.’
Louise Ansari, national director for healthwatch england, said: ‘While we know the NHS is still providing vital treatment to the vast majority of those in need, it is also clear to us that the experience of accessing care is getting worse and that, tragically, for some people they are not getting the help they need in time.’
A Department of health and Social Care spokesman said: ‘Taxpayers rightly expect value for money from every penny spent in our NHS.’
He added that the health Secretary had asked the NHS to publish online organisation charts showing job titles and staffing numbers, including those working in diversity programmes.