It is a great honour to lead the diversity work programme on behalf of the Mary Seacole Trust.
We commissioned and published a major literature review which was carried out on an independent, voluntary basis by healthcare researcher Dr Habib Naqvi, who has since joined us as a trustee. Dr Naqvi drew together findings from recent high-profile reports on race equality and inclusion in the workplace. After publication, a roundtable event was held in November 2019, where discussions on the findings were considered by private and public organisations. We are now exploring further promotion of the literature review, linking this to the recently published report on health inequalities in minority ethnic communities by the NHS Race and Health Observatory.
Mary Seacole was first and foremost a nurse. Our diversity work has therefore mainly focused on working with the NHS, in particular supporting nurses from diverse backgrounds or who serve diverse or deprived communities to achieve their best and, like Mary, to find ways to solve seemingly insurmountable challenges. We will maintain this focus going forwards but are also exploring broadening our scope during 2022.
We are proud to partner with Health Education England and the Florence Nightingale Foundation to support nurses completing the prestigious Mary Seacole Leadership Programme. We contribute at selection and induction, during the programme via mentorship and at the end we celebrate via a special event for all participants, their sponsors, family and friends. Our aim is for this programme to be life-affirming and to make a life-changing difference to the career progression of participants.
We are also currently exploring ways to promote the work of nurses who are recruited internationally to work in the NHs and social care services across the UK. This will become a major theme in 2022 onwards, supported by NHS England. We see Mary as a pioneer for such nurses, and we think their contribution has not been sufficiently recognized or championed.
We are exploring the development of a legacy product to follow the Caring for the Nation launch, also in partnership with NHS England.
And we make an ongoing commitment to accept invitations to give talks (online or in person, depending on circumstances) at conferences, training sessions and other programmes, aimed at inspiring people with Mary’s story in a way that is relevant to their context. In 2021, we contributed to 35 such sessions.
