Meet the team

Turning the Tide: NHS England South East advisory panel

The panel’s purpose is to identify, develop and spread opportunities to minimise the disparity on the Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) workforce and communities across the region. Initially the panel was set up to consider the disparity of impact on BAME populations from COVID-19 but the panel is now working to look at broader impacts on BAME colleagues and communities.

Shahana Ramsden

Shahana Ramsden

Co-Chair and Head of Workforce Transformation

NHS England South East

Why is this important?

From the age of six I wanted to be a teacher. I finally achieved this and took up a role as an English and French teacher. However, I quickly became concerned about the barriers that BAME students faced. I felt that they were stereotyped, underestimated and sometimes reprimanded more harshly than their white counterparts. I remember thinking, if this is how we treat our young people, what hope do we have for the future? I felt I had to speak out. However, when I chose to raise this issue, I was called into the Head Teacher’s office and told it was not my role to speak up about race equality, only to teach English and French. It was this that drove me to leave the profession and retrain with the Commission for Racial Equality, becoming an advocate for discrimination cases. When I first read the Turning the Tide strategy, I was immediately affected by the long list of research papers, studies and reports that have been written over decades about this agenda. This is not a new issue, but this time we want the impact to be different. We have the leadership support we need in this region and the commitment to address inequalities and create long lasting, sustainable change. We must take this opportunity to build on that foundation.

Anne Eden

Anne Eden

Co-Chair and South East Regional Director

NHS England South East

Why is this important?

Despite all that has been done to progress this work over the years, there remains a disproportionate impact on BAME communities which has only increased as a result of Covid-19. Our job is not yet done. We are Turning the Tide, but we must continue this work with focus and invigoration. I joined the NHS as a trainee almost forty years ago. In those days, it would have been impossible for me to take up a role as a Chief Executive as all senior leaders were white, aged men. We have made significant progress towards achieving gender equality since then and I do not want to leave the NHS until progress has been made to improve the lives of BAME communities. I will ensure that there is BAME representation and I am proud to say that I have contributed to this effort.

Tim Omo-Bare Tim Omo-Bare

Senior Programme Manager

NHS England South East

Why is this important?

This work is deeply important to me. I look at my colleagues who experience daily microaggressions and continue to have significantly difficult journeys in accessing opportunities and career development. Within the current political climate of the Black Lives Matter movement, I feel that now is a unique opportunity to make a sustainable change. Everyone on this board is passionate about this work and helping to drive the cultural change we want to see in this organisation and the world. We can and must do more to help educate people and assist BAME populations in gaining access to the services they need.

Tom Edgell

Tom Edgell

Locality Director (Kent, Surrey and Sussex)

NHS England South East

Why is this important?

We cannot afford not to do this work. The reality of the current situation is that many people are becoming unwell or dying unnecessarily. These circumstances have taught us a huge amount about inequalities across the population, in addition to those specific to BAME communities. We must consider all populations and identify who needs our help and how we can best support them. We have access to Primary Care experts, Directors of Public Health, academics and those working locally and within the system. We need to continue this work, so it becomes a habit that is instilled in our DNA.

Roger Kline

Roger Kline

Independent Specialist Adviser

Why is this important?

I come from a non-religious Jewish communist background with a perspective from both inside and outside the system. I believe in creating fair play and seeing the potential in people. Throughout my career I have disagreed with trade unions regarding their unfair treatment of staff. I have also developed the understanding that if people aren’t against you, they might instead be with you. This board is fantastic, and I can see that we are heading in the same direction and making a difference. Now is the time to make this change. I am motivated by our shared aim of finding solutions and choosing not to dwell on problems or barriers.

Terry Roberts

Chief People Officer

Oxford University Hospitals

Why is this important?

This work will save lives and make a difference. We are already seeing an impact: our efforts are helping us to protect our staff and population and it is making a difference in the way that BAME staff are treated. I grew up in a diverse area with a family that is active and political in this work. This perspective enabled me to see the impact of microaggressions and inequalities in addition to the impact of Covid-19 on BAME communities. Working across different workplaces with a variety of people, I have seen that there is a real appetite to make a difference and that has inspired me to be a part of this change.

Kevin Holton

Kevin Holton

Head of Experience of Care and Equalities and Health Inequalities

NHS England

Why is this important?

I have been fighting for this for forty years and I do not plan to stop now. This work is deeply embedded in my DNA and lies at the core of who I am. It has been a great pleasure to work with such a dedicated team in the South East region who want to make positive and sustainable change. I am committed to looking forward for solutions rather than focussing on barriers.

Shahed Ahmed

Shahed Ahmed

National Clinical Director for Cardiovascular Prevalence

NHS England

Why is this important?

In wave 1, we saw a higher mortality rate from Covid in BAME populations. We have therefore established a work programme to reduce this. Our work includes: data and information; testing and contact tracing; social marketing and communications; clinical management and risk factor management (this includes pulse oximetry in the community and managing risk factors such as diabetes).

Adam Doyle

Adam Doyle

Chief Executive

Integrated Care Board (ICB) for Sussex

Why is this important?

As a Chief Executive, I have seen first-hand the hard work of our BAME NHS and care workforce. Without our BAME communities working for our NHS and our care services, we would not have been able to make the improvement in healthcare that we have made over the past decades. My passion for this work is that I believe in social justice and when I sit around many meetings, I see too many people who look like me. Diversity to me is something which brings a richness of thought and an alternative perspective.

Much research shows that diversity in decision making leads to better decisions. Therefore, I actively work to seek out different views to my own This ensures our patients have people speaking about the NHS, who know what it is like to be from our BAME community. I encourage all leaders to not see challenge or difference of thought as a threat or disrespect, but to embrace it for what it is – fresh information that can shape the future positively.

I am really proud to support the SE BAME dipartites programme.

Scott Durairaj

Author of Turning the Tide Strategy

Why is this important?

The NHS has been built by people travelling the world and the country with one single aim of delivering care to the populations that we serve. However since the NHS was born sadly our staff and some patients have not received the experiences we would have hoped for or wanted.

Covid-19 brought this fact once again into sharp focus. As a healthcare leader and a social science practitioner I want to ensure the NHS I lead, leaves no one behind in its continued advancement of clinical outcomes or workforce and leadership opportunities.

Simply put if one of us isn’t equal then none of us are equal, Turning the Tide was written to ensure any improvement plan aligns and develops the understanding of the need to address structural, institutional and interpersonal racism and discrimination.

Only by taking this approach will we deliver the improvements our workforce and populations have been waiting for.