National healthcare awards success for local hospital group

26 March 2021

THE Northern Care Alliance NHS Group’s (NCA) Equality and Diversity team and its Freedom to Speak Up team have both been recognised in a highly prestigious national healthcare awards ceremony organised by the Health Service Journal (HSJ).

The Equality and Diversity team received a Highly Commended HSJ Award in the NHS Workplace Race Equality category for its work delivering a number of programmes focused around workforce race equality in public sector organisations in Greater Manchester, including the Police, Fire, Local Authorities, NHS Organisations and a number of third sector partners.

The second accolade went to the NCA’s Freedom to Speak Up team, which was a HSJ Award Finalist in the Freedom to Speak Up Organisation of the Year category. This award recognises organisations that drive "speaking up" culture in order to have a significant impact in the workplace.

The NCA brings together the Salford Royal and Pennine Acute trusts and operates hospitals and community services in Salford, Oldham, Bury and Rochdale.

Naheed Nazir, Group Associate Director Inclusion and Engagement said:

“Winning a Highly Commended award shows how hard we have worked here at the NCA, and with our partners, and our commitment to diversity in the public sector. There is still work to do, and we will continue raising awareness of equality, diversity and human rights issues in the NHS and public sector. I am very proud of everyone who made this team such a success.”

Dr Tina Chrysochou, Consultant Nephrologist and Freedom to Speak Up champion at the NCA, said:

“It was an immense honour and privilege to have been shortlisted for the HSJ FTSU Organisation of the Year Award. It is a fantastic accolade and endorsement of a service we are passionate and proud of. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the Executive team for their support and buy in from the start and to a fantastic team of lead and champion FTSU Guardians who bring so much enthusiasm, expertise and peer support.”

About the NHS Workplace Race Equality entryThe NCA has been developing and delivering the Greater Manchester Public Sector Workforce Race Equality Transformation Programmes. As an Inclusion Centre of Excellence the NCA is working with the Police, Fire Service, NHS organisations and local authorities across the region to support them in acting to reduce the racial inequalities that exist across all those workforces.  

The initiatives include a Race Equality Change Agents Programme, gathering and utilisation of lived experience through the format of living library activities, and the launching of a multi sector reciprocal mentoring programme.

Alongside these active programmes, the NCA has worked to co-create a single set of six workforce race equality key data indicators, formed by working in partnership with Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Professionals, Trade Unions and senior leaders from all sectors. The key data indicators allow for all public sector organisations to evaluate the impact of local change programmes and measure their performance with each other in a clear and open manner.

About the Freedom to Speak Up Organisation of the Year entryThe NCA has replicated its FTSU model across three separate organisations and FTSU has been woven into strengthening a supportive and inclusive culture making it a key element of the organisational culture.

The team has embedded a learning and safety culture into the FTSU service and that feeds into the Trust’s expectations to ''know our own story'' and ensure all patient safety concerns are raised and responded to.

Some unique aspects of the FTSU model include impartiality to existing investigation structures, transparency of cases reviewed to reduce fear of speaking up, in-house training based on real case examples, and good guardian retention peer support.

The HSJ Awards 2020 were held on 17 March 2021 and hosted by Sir Lenny Henry and BBC presenter Victoria Derbyshire.

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