‘Transparent, quick and firm’ action against racism is vital, conference hears

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Health and care organizations must be quick and firm in their actions against staff members who display racist behaviors, a high-profile nurse has urged.

Dame Elizabeth Anionwu, vice-president of the Queens Nursing Institute (QNI) and patron of the Mary Seacole Trust, spoke out about the importance of organizations taking clear, strong action against racist behaviour.

You do not treat individuals in a racist manner, full stop

Elizabeth Anionwu

Her comments came during the QNIs annual conference held online last week and as part of an interview session with actress Kayla Meikle, who played the role of Crimean War nursing pioneer Mary Seacole in a play in London earlier this year.

During the conference, Dame Elizabeth said that staff from minority ethnic backgrounds working in health and care organizations need to have confidence that if a racist incident is reported, it will not be brushed under the carpet but that it will incur sanctions up to and including dismissal .

She said that the penalties for racist behavior should be publicized so that any staff who are thinking about being racist will think again.

They will know that this organization is telling them if you want to be racist in your own home, that is your affair, but once you work with us, the minute you are here, any behavior of such kind will not be tolerated, she said .

She added: However uncomfortable it is for the organization, however uncomfortable it is for the managers and however uncomfortable it is for the staff to know that, Oh, I have got to be careful what I say here you do not treat individuals in a racist manner, fullstop.

Overarchingly, it was vital that organizations were transparent and quick and firm in their actions against any member of staff that is displaying racist behaviors, stressed Dame Elizabeth.

Rob Webster

Meanwhile, in a separate talk to the conference about staff wellbeing through the pandemic, Rob Webster, chief executive of the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership, also spoke about the need for senior figures in health and social care to address racism.

He said that ignorance, racism and other cultural problems can only be addressed by White people speaking out.

He also said it was important to take a proactive approach to promoting minority ethnic staff into senior positions.

We need to make sure that we have a representative leadership that does not all look like me, which looks like the communities we serve, 20% of whom are from a Black and minority ethnic background, he said.

We see diversity as a strength because it is, he said. Weve never faced the kind of problems or issues that we have now. We need different ideas, we need different people.

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