According to the NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) for 2023, there are more black and minority ethnic (BME) staff in senior positions in the NHS than at any point in its history.
The WRES shows ethnic minority representation at very senior manager (VSM) pay bands has risen by more than half (61.7 per cent) since 2018, from 201 to 325 in 2023. This makes it the highest on record.
Ethnic minority representation at executive board level has also increased to more than one in ten of executive roles (11 per cent) – up from 9 per cent in 2021.
The report has also revealed that ethnic minority colleagues make up more than a quarter of (26.4 per cent) of the NHS workforce. Almost half (47.5 per cent) of doctors, dentists, and consultants and more than third (33.6 per cent) of nurses, midwives, and health visitors, are from a BME background.
However, the report also found that white shortlisted job applicants are 1.59 times more likely to be appointed from shortlisting than ethnic minority shortlisted applicants. This represents a decline from 1.53 in 2022.
A different report - NHS Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) report - has also been published and revealed disability declaration rates by NHS staff has significantly improved in 2023. NHS England says this is due to improved engagement by NHS trusts.
At the same time, board members declaring a disability has risen from 2.1 per cent in 2019 to 5.7 per cent in 2023.
This comes after the establishment of the Disabled NHS Directors Network (DNDN), which aims to identify and promote best practice in supporting and recruiting disabled staff.
The WDES report found that relative likelihood of a disabled job applicant being appointed through shortlisting has improved from 1.18 in 2019 to 0.99 in 2022.
It was also revealed in the report that just over half (52.1 per cent) of disabled staff believed they had equal opportunities for career progression or promotion – an increase from 51.3 per cent in 2022. 73.4 per cent of disabled staff felt that their employer had made adequate adjustments to enable them to carry out their work.
Dr Navina Evans, NHS England chief workforce officer, said: “There are some positive improvements in this year’s WRES and WDES data, including a higher number of people in senior positions in the NHS being filled by people of ethnic minority backgrounds and disabled colleagues.
“But we know there is more to do, and with the NHS workforce more diverse than at any point in its history progress is particularly critical.
“That is why the NHS’ Equality, Diversity and Inclusion improvement plan sets out targeted actions to address prejudice and discrimination in the workplace, including making sure every NHS board and Chief Executive has a measurable objective to improve the experience of staff.”
Professor Em Wilkinson-Brice, director for staff experience and leadership development at NHS England, said: “It is really encouraging to see the improvements in diversity across the NHS workforce. We recently published our NHS staff survey which also showed tangible improvements in our staff experience. Ensuring we have a motivated and valued workforce is a key part of the People Promise where we all must work together to improve the experience of working in the NHS for everyone.”
