Midwives campaign for culture of change
Midwives who raised awareness of inequalities faced by Black, Asian and minority ethnic colleagues and expectant mothers in Northwick Park Hospital’s maternity unit will see their work adopted across the trust.
The four-strong Cultural Safety Team spoke to numerous colleagues and women during the past year helping raise awareness of how unconscious bias can affect staff, patients and the care they receive.
This was delivered via presentations and the maternity information screens with email access to both women and staff. The team’s work will be reinstated as mandatory training later this year after the second wave of the pandemic prevented face-to-face meetings.
The aim is to reduce health inequalities and poor outcomes in an area of London with one of the largest and most diverse ethnic communities in the UK.
Chief executive Chris Bown welcomed the team’s work on the back of a recent CQC report.
Mr Bown said: “It’s eye-opening and more than a little uncomfortable but we have to be honest about our shortcomings as an organisation if we want to make genuine changes.
“The fact that the cultural team comprises of black female professionals gives us an honest picture of what is happening and is more representative of our workforce. I welcome that and we are planning to introduce cultural safety teams in every division.”
Midwife Sade Oluwaleimu added: “We know there is inequality of treatment but we now have the opportunity to learn, educate and improve how we deliver healthcare. We can all benefit from having a better understanding of one another.
“I’m relatively young but jumped at the chance to join the cultural team. It’s a good opportunity to make difference and it’s great to hear our work will reach a wider audience.”