BRIG/BSol ICB Health Summit Quick Out the Blocks
Lisa Stalley - Green: Deputy Chief Executive ICB
Ranjit Sondhi - BRIG Chair
Salma Yaqoob - Associate Director for Health Inequalities
Once again there was a packed house for the second BRIG / BSol Health Summit to hear the progress that had been made on the 17 Anti-Racist Pledges (inclusive of those from the BRIG Birmingham Race Equality Manifesto).
Lisa Stalley-Green deputising for David Melbourne (CEO ICB) acknowledged the systemic racism embedded in the health service and its impact. Key achievements were presented on a traffic light system for all 17 pledges, which were mainly getting started with some early gains such as achieving the Race Equality Code accreditation (see further reading). Progress on the Birmingham and Lewisham African Caribbean Health Inequalities Initiative (BLACHIR) was presented with the development of Maternity Link Workers and the establishment of the church-based Black Heritage Support Service (BHSS) Advocacy Service.
The importance of granulated outcome health needs data was highlighted in co-designing services with the lived experience of communities. The NHS National Award won by “Thrive” (Community Partners and NHS) illustrated this very point, as did a similar locality initiative in North Birmingham. Progress on the rollout of the ‘Fairer Future Fund' was noted with the awarding of 30 small grants, which will now be followed with significant funds being distributed over the next 12-36 months to empower and connect communities to deliver better outcomes through early intervention and treatment.
Going forward Lisa stated:
“Our commitments are spread across the three key areas of ICB policies, communities and health outcomes, and recruitment and representation. Inequalities that are so entrenched can’t be fixed overnight and we recognised that this was a 10-year programme, and we have committed to tackling race inequalities in our system 10-year plan.”
The ICB acknowledged the ‘Pakistani Report’ with its health recommendations and they now needed to develop specific work and interventions with the Pakistani Community.
It was encouraging to note the ICB’s commitment to the BRIG - Three Year Board Challenge, which they will roll out to all NHS Trusts in the integrated care system.
As a critical friend on race equality, equity and anti-racism, BRIG’s Chair Ranjit Sondhi addressed the summit by providing a reflective response to BSol’s progress over the last. He did so in acknowledging the background of the increasing financial challenges faced and the hostile anti-woke environment being created by the Government seeking equality, diversity and inclusion posts to be abolished, which directly contracdicts the public equality duties placed on public sector agencies in its own 2010 Equalities Act. Ranit stated:
“To aggravate the situation even more, we now have the bleating’s of the self-righteous Anti-Woke brigade that wants EDI posts, policies and practices to be reduced, if not scrapped altogether. These self-styled anti-wokists who believe that claims of racial injustices are grossly exaggerated, perhaps even figments of the imagination, and that, like the findings of the Dr. Tony Sewell CRED Report on Race and Ethnic Disparities, or as we call it the NO CRED report, commissioned by Boris Johnson two years ago, Britain is no longer institutionally racist and so it is now up to ethnic minorities to go through the open doors of equal opportunities and sort themselves out.”
Given, the above Ranjit felt the progressive works now underway at BSol ICB is streets ahead of other NHS locality systems across the country. He congratulated the ICB for the leadership it has demonstrated. He welcomed the in-year achievement of BLACHIR and the development of a similar project focused on the Pakistani community, which needed to include the understanding of cultural identities in order for effective health needs to be met by co-designed services.
BRIG’s critical friend reflection on the BSol Pledges included:
BSol has had an impressive start out of the blocks. But remember this is a marathon, not a race.
The ICB has shown sound Leadership commitment backed up by the required resources, which now need to be structured and incorporated within the whole system.
The roll out of the Three Year Board Challenge and the Race Equality Code across other partner institutions is a crucial next step and welcomed.
To this end the ICB Race Equality and Equity work may need to be backed by an Anti- Racist Framework, which demonstrates how the 5 year plan leads seamlessly into the 10 Year strategy.
There is a need to ensure the 17 pledges have baselines and timeline targets, so BRIG can robustly carry out its critical fiend audit.
BRIG would strongly recommend a focused exploration of the Pakistani Community in the wake of the Pakistani Report and Dr Iqbal’s research, which should be built on more finely and intelligently defined metrics that take into consideration cultural complexities.
We welcome BSol's work on the Health Position Paper and the recommendations feeding into the 10 Year Birmingham Race Equality Delivery Plan
Further reading:
BSol 17 Pledges Progress Year 1 included in Summit Delegates Pack