NHS trusts fast-track ethnic minorities to top jobs

Yahoo

14-04-2025

NHS trusts are fast-tracking ethnic minorities to top jobs to meet diversity quotas.
At least 11 major hospital trusts around England have schemes or programmes focused on helping ethnic minority employees gain promotions into senior roles.
The drive to 'improve representation' in management positions and on boards has seen initiatives which include 'reverse mentoring' and 'white ally training', as well as dedicated development opportunities for ethnic minorities.
The policies are on top of NHS guidance, revealed by The Telegraph, encouraging all recruiters to ensure there is a black or other ethnic minority candidate on all interview shortlists.
Other NHS equality, diversity and inclusion policies include recommending the Rooney Rule – an American football policy that makes it mandatory for ethnic minorities to be shortlisted for interviews if they apply – making managers justify hiring white British nationals, as well as using race as a 'tie-breaker' if two candidates are equal.
The scale of such policies being used in the NHS adds to the row over hiring policies being pursued by public sector services following a decision by West Yorkshire Police to temporarily block applications from white Britons – a move branded 'racist' by Tory MP Neil O'Brien.
The 'positive action' initiatives are legal under the 2010 Equality Act but have come under fire for 'discriminating' against white candidates during recruitment processes.
Steve Barclay, the former health secretary, told The Telegraph the health service should scrap 'top down targets' and focus on hiring the best people for the job.'The NHS should focus on building a genuine meritocracy, which will in turn enable diverse talent to thrive, rather than imposing top down targets which often distort the outcome for candidates,' he said.
Attempts to boost the diversity of NHS trust boards and hospital management stem from NHS England's Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES), which requires hospitals to report on the ethnic make-up of managers and directors and encourages action so that the roles reflect the wider NHS workforce and community.
The NHS has a target of ensuring its leadership is representative of the overall black and minority ethnic (BME) workforce by 2028, while some 30 NHS trusts in the North West of England have signed up to an anti-racism awards scheme, requiring boards to have a minimum number of directors from ethnic minorities.
A number of hospital trusts have dedicated teams running 'leadership programmes' for ethnic minority staff to boost their chance of securing promotions into more senior roles.
Such schemes are run by University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust, and Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which was run by Sir Jim Mackey, the new NHS England chief executive.
The trusts have reported increased diversity in executive roles as a result of the programmes.
Elsewhere, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust operates career workshops for ethnic minority staff and audits talent and progression of the group through dedicated 'talent boards' across its organisation.
It also runs a 'reverse mentoring' programme, where junior ethnic minority employees mentor board members, while senior staff undergo 'white ally training', according to its equality, diversity and inclusion strategy.
Other hospital trusts have 'race equality steering groups' to drive diversity policy initiatives, such as to prioritise ethnic minorities for training and development groups, including at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, in London, and Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.
North East London NHS Foundation Trust said it ran 'a specific set of leadership programmes for colleagues from global majority backgrounds to encourage and equip them to compete and succeed in obtaining senior positions within the trust', working with its 'global majority staff network'.
Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust runs a 'reciprocal mentoring programme', which 'pairs a senior leader with an aspiring leader from an under-represented staff group, so we can learn from each other, break down barriers and improve opportunities for future leaders'.
Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership has a talent management agenda for ethnic minority people, while West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust previously ran a programme for a board race equality champion to improve diversity in hiring, but it said it no longer did this.
Earlier this year, Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, attacked 'misguided' diversity, equality and inclusion agendas, including one that boasted of an 'anti-whiteness stance'.
Publicly available guidance from NHS England's East of England region, called 'improving the selection process', tells employers to 'consider using a version of the Rooney Rule or increase the numbers of under-represented groups who are shortlisted'.
A separate document called 'no more tick boxes' gives examples of initiatives used by NHS trusts to enforce diverse interview panels and says one hospital trust will 'only interview if there is at least one BME candidate and one woman candidate shortlisted'.
Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust introduced 'positive discrimination at the shortlisting stage' as part of measures to increase diversity up until 2023.
NHS Employers encourages hospitals to use race as a 'tie-breaker' if two candidates are equally qualified for the job.
Other NHS England guidance says managers who opt not to hire ethnic minorities should explain themselves.The guidance says: 'Justification should be sent to the organisation's chair setting out, clearly, the process followed and the reasons for not appointing the BME candidate.'
The London Ambulance Service and Royal Free Hospital in north London are among those to have adopted policies requiring interview panels to explain why a shortlisted ethnic minority candidate is not appointed to a role.
An NHS England spokesman said: 'NHS services should only ever recruit the best candidate for the job – irrespective of race – and it is obviously right trusts ensure their recruitment practices are fair and equitable, so excellent potential NHS staff don't miss out on roles due to discrimination.
'The vast majority of job applications are made through NHS Jobs which is anonymised at all stages until interview, and individual trusts are responsible for setting and following their own recruitment policies which support recruitment of the best people for the role.'
A Department of Health spokesman said: 'This government's top priority is improving what matters most to patients – cutting waiting lists, making sure people can get a GP appointment and ensuring ambulances turn up on time.
'Any schemes looking to improve equality must always be fair, with jobs given on merit, and employment legislation must be followed.
'Equality and diversity initiatives should not be box-ticking exercises.
'Instead, we need to tackle the very real health inequalities that exist in Britain today, as well as the abuse and racism NHS staff face.'
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