Our need to increase representation of BAME senior leaders at HEE is clear in our workforce profiling.

Dear Colleagues,

At the heart of the NHS People Plan lies a promise to our people; that the NHS will tackle discrimination in our workplaces. Too much talent is denied to our teams and our patients, and the Workforce Race Equality Standard starkly describes the work we all need to do.

This is an important challenge to every part of the NHS - national, regional and local, and at HEE we have made this a Board priority. Improving our culture through greater inclusivity and developing our workforce to be representative of the population we serve is a key part of making HEE the best place to work.

Our Staff Networks have been more in evidence and grown more quickly than ever before helping drive this ambition. These include our LGBTQ+ HEEROs network; a new Women’s Network and Carers Network; a Disability Network; and regional BAME networks.

Our need to increase representation of BAME senior leaders at HEE is clear in our workforce profiling. I am particularly pleased that our aim to encourage a more diverse range of candidates to apply for senior roles at HEE is paying off. Over the past few months, we have appointed three out of four new Regional Heads of Nursing from a BAME background.

Carol Love-Mecrow and Nichole Mcintosh will take up their roles in November. Christian Brailsford starts in December and Professor Laura Serrant joins in January 2021. These four influential nurse leaders will strengthen HEE’s senior Nursing and Midwifery management team and will be joining at a crucial time for the nursing profession, as HEE works hard to support the delivery of the Government’s nurse expansion ambition and key programmes of work, including nursing associates, return to practice and work to highlight the attractiveness and flexibility of nursing and midwifery careers, that will in turn deliver safe and effective care to patients. 

This is only the beginning for us. I am committed to making HEE the best place to work and making it more inclusive across all under-represented groups, so this is a positive first step forward in helping to achieve that aim.

Over the coming months, we will be actively promoting senior roles across our diverse networks both internally and externally to attract and grow talent from a more diverse applicant base for our vacancies.

For many, it may still feel out of reach. That’s why we must all not only pledge but take action to work together to make these ambitions a reality to improve the experience of working in the NHS for everyone.

Best Wishes

Navina

Dr Navina Evans

Chief Executive 

Health Education England