Impact Matters is the theme of this year’s National Inclusion Week taking place 23-29 September.
The campaign was founded by Inclusive Employers and is dedicated to celebrating inclusion and actively creating inclusive workplaces. The week represents a call-to-action to everyone across organisations, from leaders, to inclusion professionals through to teams and individuals.
Inclusion at TPHC
At TPHC, we champion transformation and improvement to drive forward positive outcomes and change at patient, community and system level. We understand the importance of promoting and sustaining inclusive practice in all that we do, through our work with our partners and customers, and internally within our organisation.
We value the diversity of our team members and the rich mix of expertise, perspectives and experiences they each bring. Every person is encouraged to take part in a range of great initiatives and steps to champion equality, diversity and inclusion at TPHC, helping further understanding, empathy and team cohesiveness. We recognise that each person is on their own journey when it comes to inclusion, and some may be further along than others, but our framework – our shared values, are the same for all. We value integrity, collaboration, quality, and continuous improvement through learning.
Feeling safe, seen and heard
Feeling safe at work is a core component of this partnership working. We are proud of and share White Ribbon Accreditation via our host organisation Royal Free London (RFL), which demonstrates our commitment to helping end violence against women and girls.
Our Inclusion Steering Group (ISG) and leadership team work together so we can continue to evolve, monitor and improve our staff wellbeing, and our equality, diversity and inclusion policies and practices. The ISG spent several months developing a meaningful action plan using TPHC’s Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) data, engaged with network groups across TPHC and RFL, and sought input from external organisations about their inclusion journeys. There are two focus areas of the action plan:
1. Racial equity, inclusion and diversity
On racial equity, inclusion and diversity, we want to achieve a more sustainably diverse workforce so we need be more inclusive, and our entire team needs to be more fluent in anti-racism.
2. Building psychological safety
In building psychological safety, barriers must be proactively removed to create an accessible workplace that allows everyone to fully participate and thrive.
18 actions have been developed and prioritised into three timeframes, ranging from immediate/foundational, short-term (0-6 months) and medium/longer term.
‘‘These actions have senior leadership sponsors and there is real dedication across the organisation to build an inclusive organisation.’’
– Rakesh Dodhia and Stephanie Kerr, TPHC Inclusion Steering Group Co-Chairs
Inclusion is everyone’s business
A key recommendation from our Inclusion Steering Group for 2024 was for everyone in TPHC to receive a grounding in anti-racism. We commissioned Brap, a Birmingham-based equality charity, to support us on this mission, and the majority of our staff have now attended an introductory training session on anti-racist learning, thinking and practice.
Learning to think and act in an anti-racist way isn’t just something you do once in a workshop or training session then that’s it – it’s a journey. Our teams came out of these sessions enthused and eager to continue on their own paths, and we’ve launched a hub on our intranet with some curated optional resources to support this continuation of their personal development.
TPHC participates in the 10,000 Black Interns programme, run by the 10,000 Interns Foundation which was founded in 2020 to champion underrepresented talent and promote equity of opportunity and experience through paid internships for Black and Black heritage students and graduates across a range of industries in the UK.
We have offered nine internships over the past three years, and it has been a rewarding experience for both the young people interning with us, and for our teams who take pride in supporting interns during their assignments and their learning and development goals. It motivates us to know that TPHC interns may be inspired by the range of roles available within the NHS and might choose to one day join the healthcare sector – and indeed TPHC – as future employees.
Our staff networks
Within our workplace, there are several staff-led networks who help to bring our team members together to plan and deliver improvements for the benefit of all. This includes our Inclusion Steering Group, Parents and Carers Network, Menopause Support Network, Wellbeing Matters Group, and Neurodiverse Peer Support Group, amongst others.
Our networks plan a range of internal activities that celebrate inclusion and diversity. Throughout the year, our staff members regularly share their personal stories and experiences in our all staff meetings, reflecting their cultural backgrounds and communities.
In March, colleagues organised a charity raffle and panel talk to mark International Women’s Day where senior women within TPHC shared their stories and experiences. We celebrated Pride month in June and supporting LGBTQ+ communities by enjoying rainbow inspired food and soft drinks, and team members delivered an informative session on allyship. Our Fast-Track Cities team once again took part in the Pride in London parade with their regional partners, to celebrate the community and share important messages about getting tested regularly, and tackling stigma.
Making lasting change
We are committed to making lasting change and embedding inclusive practices across our ways of working and internal organisational initiatives and policies. When it comes to championing inclusion, we know it’s not just a tick box exercise and that the biggest impact can only be made by embedding inclusion in all that we do.
What impactful things is your organisation doing to further inclusion?