Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has been awarded the RACE Equality Code Mark for its work towards race equality and tackling discrimination in the workplace.
The Code – which stands for Reporting, Action, Composition and Education – was established in 2020 by Dr Karl George, a governance consultant working in the West Midlands, to help organisations tackle race inequity in senior leadership positions.
To be awarded the quality mark the trust had to go through an in-depth assessment around how it meets the standards for each of the RACE principles and have an action plan to tackle areas of improvement. A RACE action plan includes measures for publicly reporting on progress, improving HR practices, increasing diversity at senior levels and educating staff on racial inequality.
Marsha Foster, Acting Chief Executive Officer commented “We are proud of our diverse workforce and are committed to promoting inclusion and equality to create a better workplace for all.”
“Whilst this is a fantastic accolade to receive, we know there is more to do and we continue to work towards delivering our RACE action plan, ensuring Black Country Healthcare is inclusive for all.
Jeremy Vanes, Chair at Black Country Healthcare commented “As a Board we made a declaration earlier this year to focus on becoming an anti-racist organisation. This achievement is a further step forward in helping us realise our plans.
We are passionate about placing equality and diversity at the heart of our work in order to better reflect the needs of our communities in the Black Country”.