Barts Health Equality and Human Rights Impact Assessment Report

Barts Health Equality and Human Rights Impact Assessment ReportStaff InequalitiesA lot of the emphasis in development of the merger has been on patients and their wellbeingwhich staff felt was appropriate. Indeed, there appeared to be a general sense thatstaff were resigned to unfairness in the workplace:“There isn't any equality for staff - you just have to get used to this, I've been here 20years.”“It is clear that as far as promotion is concerned there is no equality: but this isn’t justNewham, it's reflected throughout the NHS. It's very much part of the culture. I'm notsaying it’s right, but Newham does mirror the status quo. As far as Newham is concernedthere is a general acceptance of this situation across the organisation.”SummaryClearly this was a very small sample, yet we gathered some rich information. A strong trend,which does not seem unique to Newham, is an element of ‘resignation’ to inequality in theworkforce. In particular a lack of progression for BME staff was seen as the ‘Achilles heel’ ofthe NHS and seen as present in all hospitals. Expectations were low about the ability of amerged Trust to respond to the challenge, though there was hope that it would be possible.It was also clear that some staff feel they are getting the ‘raw end’ of the deal and are being‘taken over’ by another Trust. The effect of this on staff morale and implications forrecruitment/ promotion into merged Trust jobs will need to be monitored closely from anequalities perspective.3.3 Mapping local community organisations3.3.1 ApproachA request was sent to all Trusts for details of their current community engagement databaseto ensure this is consolidated and not lost during the merger process. We receivedresponses from Newham in particular, we were unable to access detailed information fromPatient Experience/ Patient Quality staff in Barts and London and Whipps Cross, thoughWhipps Cross did supply a copy of their Quality Accounts which includes a list of some ofthe groups regularly consulted as part of the Quality Accounting process.In addition to this, brap also undertook desk-based research and compiled lists of communitygroups we encountered through our focus groups with local communities. A copy of thedatabase we have produced for use by the merged Trust going forward is included as aseparate Excel spreadsheet (made available to Lead Commissioner for this work).185