July 9th 2023.
Today, Dr Adrian James, the outgoing president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, is set to make a bold statement. He is set to tell other experts that stamping out racism is ‘key to recruiting and retaining psychiatrists and other health practitioners’. The statement will be made at the college’s international congress in Liverpool.
Dr James will highlight the issues that are linked to racism. These include pay gaps, disparities in disciplinary processes, and a ‘glass ceiling’ for doctors from minority ethnic backgrounds who want to progress into management positions.
The health service has a moral, ethical and legal duty to do more to combat racism in all its forms, according to Dr James. Last month, the NHS Race and Health Observatory, which was formed in 2021 to examine disparities in health and social care based on race, said that better anti-racism policies could boost the NHS workforce.
To help tackle racism in the workplace, the Royal College of Psychiatrists has launched a new campaign that calls on mental health employers across the UK to take a number of practical steps in areas of leadership, accountability and access to opportunities. The new campaign provides employers with clear, measurable actions and implementation guidance on how to recognise and respond to instances of discrimination on racial and ethnic grounds.
A survey conducted by the college found that more than half of doctors from minority ethnic backgrounds said they had faced racism at work. Sadly, more than a quarter of those said it affected their health and four in ten said it had an impact on patients or carers.
An NHS spokesperson recently said that any form of abuse, including racism, is completely unacceptable. They also said that the NHS has published its first ever equality, diversity and inclusion improvement plan as part of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, to ensure NHS organisations continually improve the experience of its diverse workforce.
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