Is FMLM doing enough to support diverse leadership?

Dr Daghni Rajasingam, diversity lead, shares her thoughts

The concept of diversity encompasses acceptance and respect. It means understanding that each individual is unique, and recognising our individual differences.

These can be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies.  It is about understanding each other and moving beyond simple tolerance to embracing and celebrating the different dimensions of diversity contained within each individual through their variety of experiences and perspectives.

A recent article in the Sunday Times which looked at a detailed analysis of 2011 census data reported that people from ethnic minorities are more likely to secure elite professional and managerial roles (10.3 per cent) than those classified as white British (9.8 per cent). The report pointed out that minorities fare particularly well in healthcare, with 41 per cent of doctors coming from an ethnic minority, which prompted Trevor Phillips, former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, to say the statistics told “a good story about modern Britain and diversity is actually adding to our stock of talent.”

However, earlier this year the HSJ pointed to research in London that found the likelihood of white staff being senior or very senior managers is three times higher than for equivalent BME staff. So, there are both problematic and positive elements emerging in senior, professional roles in Britain, which continue to necessitate Boards taking a firm grasp of diversity and to lead from the top.

FMLM is committed to supporting diversity as a core and integral part of its strategy and business plan. Through the development of the Leadership and management standards for medical professionals, the Faculty will strive to ensure doctors in leadership and management positions are effectively tackling assumptions and managing diversity issues as well as supporting people into leadership roles. Appraisal and revalidation will be crucial to achieving this.

Visibility is key, so leaders need to role-model behaviours to enhance and embrace diversity in its broadest sense. Exploring the evidence base for encouraging diversity should leave no doubt as to its importance in improving patient care. Using the example of ethnic discrimination against staff and patient satisfaction, Professor West’s published work demonstrates that the greater the proportion of staff from a black or minority ethnic (BME) background who report experiencing discrimination at work in the previous 12 months, the lower the levels of patient satisfaction. The experience of BME staff is a very good barometer of the climate of respect and care for all within NHS trusts.

For the gender discrimination agenda, the Faculty has worked effectively in partnership with other organisations such as The King’s Fund, BMA and Medical Women’s Federation to put on a successful, high profile event in December last year. We believe that faster progress, in terms of supporting and developing women to see themselves as leaders and into leadership and management roles, is something FMLM can do by working collaboratively with other like-minded organisations. We see this as the way forward for our work on diversity generally, and specifically in connecting on issues adversely affecting BME doctors.

At the national conference this year, a whole session was dedicated to the diversity agenda, in the hopes that all our talent will be harnessed. Brigadier Tim Hodgetts delivered a fascinating lecture on the experiences in Afghanistan, in relation to different nationalities having to work closely together in the field and the role of surfacing, understanding and accepting national identities. Professor Jacky Hayden talked about disability, discrimination and the effect on training doctors. Yvonne Coghill gave an impassioned talk on the Equality Act 2010 and the importance of organisations planning to meet statutory requirements from April 2015. Dr Phil Ayres and Thomas Shanahan role-played their personal journeys of discrimination, personal awareness and desire to contribute to a change in culture. Diversity was also raised at this year’s AGM and Prof Sir Neil Douglas emphasised the very serious light we are giving the issue and pledged to ensure all sectors of the medical profession are represented at the top of medical leadership.

FMLM Council will be presented with a paper at the next meeting, in July, to support this work across organisations involved with delivering healthcare. Additionally, the model of engaging and working collaboratively with partner organisations, for example the BMA and the Academy of Royal Colleges, will be employed.

It is critical that the narrative and the desire to have a positive impact on diversity can be properly evaluated. However, none of these aspirations can be realised without the active participation of membership of the Faculty. I urge you to consider how you can contribute to this agenda and make a commitment to do so. If you have any thoughts and ideas to help support our work, we would love to hear from you.

Resources

Getting diversity at work to work: What we know and what we still don’t know

Managing diversity in organizations: An integrative model and agenda for future research

BME representation in the NHS and the growing evidence about the impact of discrimination - FMLM webinar, by Roger Kline, 7 August 2014