Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Organisational Development Lead, NHS England South East

Great healthcare starts with great people — and great people need great support. That is the philosophy at the heart of Erk Gunce’s work as Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Organisational Development Lead at NHS England South East.

Working within the Staff Experience team, Erk runs coaching and mentoring programmes that help NHS staff advance their careers and develop their leadership potential. He creates space for NHS managers to reflect, grow, and build working environments where colleagues feel respected, supported, and genuinely included. His education programmes nurture the next generation of NHS leaders from within.

But Erk’s role goes further. As Violence Prevention Lead for the region, she works to tackle one of the NHS’s most serious workforce challenges — the unacceptable reality that too many NHS staff still face violence, assault, or discrimination in their roles. Through culture change programmes and collaborative work with staff and patient-facing teams, he helps build environments where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.

“Happier, healthier NHS staff create happier, healthier patients,” Erk says. “I work behind the scenes so that we can take care of NHS staff who take care of you.”

His work directly supports the NHS’s shift toward prevention — not just in patient care, but in workforce wellbeing. By reducing stress, building resilience, and creating psychologically safe environments, Erk helps the NHS retain and nurture the people it depends upon most.

For Erk, this is personal as well as professional.

“I love working in the NHS because it’s my way of doing my part as a citizen. I’m proud to be part of the big NHS family.”

With NHS staff among its most vital assets, Erk’s work ensures the people behind the plan are supported to do their best.