NHS Arden & GEM Commissioning Support Unit has committed to have due regard to the Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) and use it as a force for driving change, both as an employer and as a provider of Commissioning support services.
The CSU will develop its action plan in collaboration with the NHS organisations it supports to ensure a joined up approach to tackling race equality across the CSU geographic region.
The CSU has collated and analysed the required WRES information and presented in the prescribed template:
Background to the standard
The NHS Equality and Diversity Council announced on 31 July 2014 that it had agreed action to ensure employees from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds have equal access to career opportunities and receive fair treatment in the workplace.
Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of NHS England, said: “The Five Year Forward View sets out a direction of travel for the NHS – much of which depends on the health service embracing innovation, engaging and respecting staff, and drawing on the immense talent in our workforce.
“We know that care is far more likely to meet the needs of all the patients we’re here to serve when NHS leadership is drawn from diverse communities across the country, and when all our frontline staff are themselves free from discrimination. These new mandatory standards will help NHS organisations to achieve these important goals.”
The Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) was introduced in April 2015, after engaging and consulting key stakeholders including other NHS organisations across England. It is included in the NHS Standard contract.
The metrics used as part of this standard can be found by clicking here.