We are committed to being an anti-racist organisation. This means we take clear and active steps to challenge racism and make sure everyone is treated fairly, with dignity and respect. Our values: Compassion, Accountability, Respect, and Excellence (CARE) are at the heart of everything we do. They guide our approach to creating a more inclusive and equitable environment for all.
We have a clear plan in place, called the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCEREF), to help us build a more inclusive and equal workplace, and to ensure our services are fair, accessible and responsive to the needs of all communities We want every patient, colleague, and member of our community to feel safe, valued and supported. Racism has no place in our Trust, and our Board has made a strong public commitment to support this.
"We are committed to being an anti-racist Trust. We have no tolerance for racism in any form towards our staff, patients, or the communities we serve.
Everyone has the right to feel safe, respected, and valued when receiving care and in our workplaces.
We are taking active steps to challenge discrimination, remove barriers, and build an inclusive culture where diversity is celebrated and equity is at the heart of everything we do.
We stand up against racism, we listen to those affected by it, and we hold ourselves accountable, ensuring our actions lead to real, lasting change."
PCREF is a tool to help NHS Trusts like ours become actively anti-racist. It makes sure that we take responsibility for working with our staff and communities to create and carry out real actions that reduce racial inequalities. It will also be part of how we are assessed for the quality of our care.
Across our workforce, we are broadly in line with the population we serve. For example, 15.5% of staff from the former Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust and 13.48% from the former Solent NHS Trust are from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic backgrounds, compared to 13.3% of the Hampshire population.
It’s important that we understand why this work matters. Successfully delivering the PCREF and our anti-racism plan depends on this understanding. Our anti-racism plan has been co-produced with both our staff and the communities we serve.
This plan will guide us on our journey to becoming a truly anti-racist Trust.
You can read a copy of our Anti-Racist Action Plan here.
You can read a copy of a Anti-Rcaist Action Plan summary plan on a page here.
What does being anti-racist mean?
To be anti-racist means actively working against racism and its effects, rather than simply avoiding racist behavior or thoughts. It involves recognizing the systems, structures, and policies that perpetuate racial inequalities and taking concrete steps to dismantle them.
Being anti-racist involves:
- Acknowledging Racism: Recognise that racism exists not only in individual attitudes but also within societal systems such as education, healthcare, the criminal justice system, and the economy.
- Challenging Bias and Stereotypes: Confront and question your own biases and the stereotypes you may have internalized. Work to unlearn assumptions that lead to unfair treatment of people based on race.
- Supporting Racial Justice: Advocate for policies and practices that promote racial equity, both within your organization and in the broader community.
- Amplifying Marginalized Voices: Listen to, support, and elevate the voices of those who experience racial oppression. Support their leadership and initiatives rather than speaking over or for them.
- Taking Responsibility: Confront and address your own role in perpetuating racism, whether directly or indirectly. Acknowledge past harm and take steps to change behavior.
- Engaging in Continuous Learning: Commit to ongoing education about the history and current realities of racism, continually assessing and improving your own beliefs and actions.
Being anti-racist is a lifelong commitment to fighting for racial justice on both personal and systemic levels.
We have listened to and worked with nearly 500 people (485 in total) from a wide range of communities, including Black African, Black Caribbean, Asian communities from North and Southeast Asia, and Eastern European communities. This group included people who use our services, their carers and families, health professionals, and members of the wider community such as faith groups, veterans, young people, LGBTQ+ individuals, and people with physical and learning disabilities. In total, we reached 458 people from the community through this work.
Within Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare, we also engaged with over 1,500 staff. They took part in safe space conversations, anti-racism sessions, team meetings, skills sessions, race equality network events, and a workplace study. That study included 116 structured interviews that looked at staff experiences with discrimination and racism.
All the feedback and ideas we received helped us to create an action plan, developed together with staff and communities, to help us become an anti-racist Trust.
Key areas of focus
We have identified nine key areas where we need to focus. Each one has specific actions for staff, services, and partners across the Trust. These areas will help us build the knowledge and skills we need to become an anti-racist organisation.
You can find out more about what each of these areas means and what actions we are taking below.
- Robust and measurable divisional plans in place, that address health inequalities, through improvement plans for access, experience and outcomes for racialised communities.
- Robust and measurable Trust-wide and divisional workforce plans that aim to improve staff experience for colleagues from ethnic minority backgrounds.
- Services across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight working closely with racialised, ethnically and culturally diverse communities, leaders and other organisations beyond the NHS, such as religious groups, ethnic led Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise organisations, social care and others to support wellness in the round.
- A two-way process that strengthens collaborative knowledge sharing beyond co-production principles and focuses on how trusts can raise awareness of early intervention support amongst racialised and ethnically, and culturally diverse communities and learn more about community concerns and barriers in return.
- Use of minimum data sets is collected consistently, and services across Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare have a clear picture and plans in place to address health inequalities. Baseline measures and targets inform planning and provide assurance of progress. WRES and Workforce data are consistently used across all services to develop cultural improvement plans.
- Working with community champions or advocates, increased visibility and accessibility of early intervention and prevention services within these communities. Recognising the challenges and pressures that some of them face within their communities when dealing with ill mental health, so that services are demystified, and stigma is addressed and broken down.
- A two-way process of collaboration and co-production of digital solutions with the community that ensures robust equality impact assessment is considered with the community, so that digital solutions do not inadvertently marginalise further.
- Recognising and understanding the diverse cultural backgrounds of the communities the Trust serves and being sensitive to those in providing care. As a result, care will be more inclusive. Recognising and understanding the racialised experiences of the communities the Trust serves and overcoming biases and prejudices by acting upon them.
- A culturally competent and diverse workforce that has a positive impact on patients and carers from racialised and ethnically and culturally diverse communities; and creates a safe space where the workforce champions inclusive leadership, shares learning.
- Ensuring racially minoritised patients and carers are treated as equal partners in decision making on their care and treatment plans, and involved in the design, development and review of care pathways.