Fostering a culture of belonging at Bromley Healthcare
At Bromley Healthcare, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment where all our colleagues have a sense of belonging, and where the work we do serves and reflects our patients and communities in South East London.
We recognise that fostering equality and inclusion and developing cultural understanding will drive change and make a difference, as well as giving colleagues the opportunity to grow personally and professionally. This will benefit our patients, service users, carers and families.
We recognise that we are on a journey as an organisation, which will involve having uncomfortable conversations and self-reflection, leading to action and the delivery of lasting change.
We’re developing our recruitment and career progression processes
- We ensure employment practices are inclusive and fair, and are reviewing our HR policies in conjunction with our Colleague Networks to make this happen.
- We have trained colleagues across the organisation as job evaluators in order to make the system more transparent.
- We are updating our Recruitment and Selection Policy, and relevant training so that posts at band 8 and above, include a member of staff from a protected characteristic in the interview process. Colleagues have been involved in the recruitment of our new Non-Executive Directors, our Chief Technology Officer and our Chief Medical Director.
- We have rolled out a suite of HR training to support managers to ensure their practice is just, reasonable and fair.
We’re focusing on building and improving cultural awareness and understanding
- In 2022, we launched a number of new training courses for colleagues that focus on fostering a culture of belonging, building inclusive teams and supporting colleagues’ psychological safety
- Throughout 2023, we have provided training to help colleagues to better understand the issues faced by LGBTQ+ individuals and build on current knowledge and understanding. We will also be delivering bespoke training to give an in-depth exploration of the mental health needs of young and adult LGBTQ+ folk.
We’re supporting colleagues to set up and join colleague networks
Colleague networks are staff-led communities of interest that help create a more equal place to work. The NHS National Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Team highlights that these networks are one of the core disruptors of inequalities. They provide protected safe spaces where people can be truly open and inclusive, nurturing a culture of belonging and trust.
- We currently have three main networks at Bromley Healthcare. Through these networks, we’re developing a series of annual events and activities for colleagues, as well as looking at our Equality and Inclusion Standard for patients and the people we serve. The LGBTQ+ Collective supports colleagues from the LGBTQ+ community, the Race, Equality, and Cultural Heritage (REACH) Colleague Network supports colleagues from underrepresented communities and the Diverse Abilities Colleague Network supports colleagues who have a long-term health condition, a disability or are carers.
We’re working with health and social care partners as part of One Bromley to shed light on the lived experiences of our diverse range of colleagues:
- Lived experiences is a One Bromley project, developed by Bromley Healthcare. All organisations within One Bromley, serve as a very diverse community, this is reflected in the landscape of our workforce. We have set out to create a series of short films and written pieces, detailing the lived experiences of people with protected characteristics One Bromley Lived Experiences
Freedom to Speak Up
Our ambition is to create a culture of speaking up, where colleagues are confident they can speak up and be heard, that their concerns will be listen to and acted upon.
We value our colleagues and actively encourage them to raise best practice, improvements or concerns. We have established 3 Freedom to Speak Up Guardians to help colleagues speak up about staff concerns and patient concerns. We also have appointed 11 Freedom to Speak Up Ambassadors, who sit across various areas of the organisation to support colleagues.
Open the Freedom to Speak Up: Channels for speaking up poster | PDF