Royal Sussex Hospital tackles equality in the work place

They treat many conditions at the Royal Sussex and they treat racism particularly seriously

Acting hospital trust chief executive Chris Adcock is leading from the front in tackling racism. On Friday 23 November, alongside Dr Vivienne Lyfar-Cissé, he is due to open the annual conference organised jointly by Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust and the BME Network. Dr Lyfar-Cissé is a clinical biochemist and chairs the trust’s BME Network. She has been instrumental in ensuring black and minority ethnic (BME) patients and staff are treated fairly not just locally but throughout the NHS.

Mr Adcock said: “I am confident that the evidence will show we have made progress on this important agenda, but I am also aware that we have more to do.” The trust employs thousands of people and 64 of them have volunteered to work with ward or department managers to tackle race and equality problems. He said in his weekly newsletter: “In September 2008 Duncan Selbie [the former chief executive] wrote in this message about his personal duty as chief executive to create an environment where it is known that racism will not be tolerated and whenever discovered that it is addressed firmly and quickly. “This was an incredibly important moment for BSUH because it was when we acknowledged that racism existed in our hospital and that we were failing in both our legal and moral obligation to promote race equality and tackle racism in all its forms.

“From that acknowledgement, the Commitment to Change (C2C) Programme for Race Equality emerged as the key driver of our promise to do better. “The C2C Programme is not, and never has been, about singling out any individual or group for preferential treatment. It is about delivering our race equality duty and its objective from day one was to ensure that our BME staff and patients are treated fairly. “The other main focus has been training and C2C training is about equipping everyone, particularly those who manage others, with the requisite understanding and skills to deliver race equality for staff in their area.

“The first wave of training sessions will be taking place between now and the end of February. In addition, a group of BME patients have volunteered to set up a new committee which will advise, guide and provide direct feedback on what it feels like to be a BME patient in our hospital. “The joint conference will provide an excellent opportunity to hear more about the C2C work and discuss how we can improve and build on those plans across the hospital.”

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The Gossip

Frank is outside King’s House with all the council news

Two planning applications relating to Withdean Stadium and Sports Complex are due to be heard by councillors on Wednesday 21 November. Both are likely to be approved. In both cases the applicant is the council itself.

Plenty of people have doubts about whether a council should be able to grant itself planning permission. In the case of Withdean, those taking this view are likely to include a couple of seasoned local campaigners.
The council wants to keep the 900-seat temporary West Stand and the 106-space northwest car park, added during Brighton and Hove Albion’s tenancy. The council gave itself planning permission in July last year but faced a legal challenge.

The other Withdean application is for a three-storey extension to the tennis centre which would add a fitness studio and 16 extra covered parking spaces for cyclists.

The Brighton and Hove City Council Planning Committee did recently delay its decision on a council application, relating to the Dome complex. It was later passed despite some reservations.

Parents Forum chairman Andrew Jeffrey praised the success of concerned relatives or neighbours in reporting children at risk of neglect or abuse. They spotted a higher percentage of children who became the subject of further work by social services than police, family doctors and schools.

He pointed out to a meeting at Hove Town Hall that only hospital staff and other health workers were more effective. Police officers made 1,385, or almost a third, of the 4,691 referrals handled last year, with schools making 766. GPs made 90.

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