On Thursday 10 March representatives from teams at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) attended the British Diversity Awards, as both a category sponsor and shortlisted nominees.
The British Diversity Awards promote the values of equality, diversity and inclusion and recognises individuals and organisations helping to make the workplace, and the world, a better place.
UHB was honoured to sponsor the ‘Outstanding Employee Network’ award on the night.
The Trust is proud of its invaluable staff networks that support and work with colleagues to raise awareness, change behaviours and create opportunities for those with protected characteristics.
It recognises that these networks provide a safe space for staff to come together to celebrate events, share lived experiences and discuss ways to improve the experience for our colleagues and patients.
They also provide an opportunity for visible allyship, which is also very instrumental to achieving an inclusive culture.
As an organisation, UHB was shortlisted for three awards on the night, which, out of the thousands that were nominated across all the categories, was a fantastic achievement.
The Fairness Taskforce was shortlisted for both the ‘Diversity Team of the Year’ and ‘Social Mobility Initiative of the Year’ Award, and the Trust’s Procurement Team up for the ‘Supplier Diversity Programme’ Award.
The taskforce, which is chaired by UHB Chief Executive Prof. Dave Rosser, was set up at the Trust in 2020 as part of efforts to support the culture of change within the organisation. The taskforce is made up of staff from many areas, specialities and banding from across the Trust, including representatives from the Executive Team, the Staff Networks, Inclusion and Wellbeing Team, HR, Communications, and many others. The taskforce is determined to focus efforts at all levels of the organisation to tackle the well-known issues surrounding the fairness agenda.
Dave Rosser, Chief Executive said: “We may not have won on the night, but just being nominated and then shortlisted was a fantastic achievement.
“While we know there is still a lot of work to do regarding the fairness agenda at UHB, it is really humbling to be recognised for what we have achieved so far, and to know we are on the right path.
“To our staff, all 22,000 of you, thank you. Your efforts, through what continues to be an immensely difficult time, have not gone unnoticed. Every single one of you deserves to come to work and be seen, valued and heard; an organisation where we will stop, challenge and continue to change our culture and to one that is fair to all.”