St Matthews Healthcare launch Act Against Racism initiative
St Matthews Healthcare, an adult mental health and social care provider in Northampton, took the next step in tackling racism across their 10-site organisation with a formal launch of their own Act Against Racism campaign on Wednesday, 27 March.
CEO Dr Imran Mallik welcomed around 50 attendees to the event which included a keynote address from RCPsych President, Dr Lade Smith CBE.
Lade praised St Matthews for embracing the Act Against Racism campaign, launched by the college last year, and taking up the recommendations in the Tackling racism in the workplace guidance. She said:
“These 15 actions are doable. If you implement them you will tackle racism in your workplace.”
The guidance was developed by College members – including Presidential Leads Dr Amrit Sachar and Dr Ananta Dave who also attended and took part in a discussion panel - and others to help mental health organisations tackle what we know is a key retention and recruitment issue.
Dr Shahid Latif, Medical Director at St Matthews talked about biases, racism and discrimination and shared findings from a recent staff survey the organisation had undertaken.
He told attendees that the campaign was fully backed by the St Matthews leadership team as it aligned with their vision to be an outstanding care provider and outstanding place to work – and it could only do that if they created a work environment where everyone feels safe, respected valued and treated with dignity.
Following the launch, work is now underway at St Matthews to embed newly appointed Act Against Racism Champions, review their corporate induction and recruitment processes and undertake roadshows and further research.