Nottinghamshire Healthcare has been awarded funding for three projects as part of a national initiative to tackle health inequalities for patients and provide working environments that are fair and free from discrimination.
The grants come from the Pacesetters programme which was founded by the Department of Health to give the opportunity to deliver innovative, partnership projects to test out new ways of addressing health inequalities. To qualify for the funding, projects had to reflect the principles of the Pacesetters approach:
· Small scale time-limited projects which can test new solutions.
· Strong community engagement throughout the process of developing and
delivering a project.
· Robust evaluation of each project to identify outcomes and learning.
One of the three projects to receive funding will aim to reduce the stigma associated with mental ill-health throughout Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities in Nottinghamshire. The project will aim to reach out to BME communities the ‘Hand of Friendship’ to reduce fears and stigma about mental health and learning disabilities through awareness raising and improving understanding.
The second project will use funding to run a Development Programme, ‘Strategies for Success’ with placement opportunities for BME staff at Bands 1 to 5. In addition it will provide opportunities for the current cohorts of the Trust’s BME Executive Mentoring Scheme, to become mentors themselves so they can in turn support more junior staff to perform effectively in their jobs and meet aspirations of promotion.
The grant for the third successful project will enable six members of staff to man a Trust helpline for employees who believe they are experiencing bullying in the workplace. It is hoped that this will raise awareness of areas where bullying must be tackled, reducing instances of discrimination within the Trust, while providing support and advice to empower employees to speak up. In addition to this, training for HR staff (and separate training for managers) will be available to ensure a seamless bullying and harassment reporting process and case management.
Furthermore, a clear pathway will be designed for providing psychological support for staff victims of bullying and harassment (e.g. CBT, counselling).
Professor Mike Cooke, Chief Executive said: “I am delighted to hear that we have been awarded the grants to be able to further progress such important work to tackle inequalities and discrimination within the Trust and BME communities throughout Nottinghamshire.”
All the bids were compiled by the 2nd cohort of the BME Executive Mentoring Scheme.
The Pacesetters programme has been active in the East Midlands since 2007. ‘Wave 3’ of the programme began in April 2010 and will run until September 2011.
