Agenda item

(A period not exceeding 15 minutes for questions from members of the public.)

In addressing the Board, Mr Tim Brown thanked the Board for his opportunity to speak and made reference to previous discussion around a former DMBC officer fighting against alleged racism and if this was thought to be true it was incumbent upon the Board to address the impact of Health and Wellbeing outcomes for BME people and communities. He made reference with regard to his past involvement with the Community Forum and sought reasons as to why the Forum had been disbanded without due regard and consultation being undertaken.

Mr Brown spoke again of the FOI response sent to him which suggested that BME candidates across DMBC were still over 2 times less likely to be appointed after shortlisting than white candidates who were shortlisted.  As a parent, he could not understand this position, and sought clarification as to why nobody had provided an explanation for this. Mr Brown highlighted to the Board that he had been informed that anybody applying for an apprenticeship with DMBC were required to have knowledge of DMBC operating systems. He stated that there are people within the BME community, including himself and family members that had contributed to the NHS for many years. However feels that there is a need for conversations to take place with BME communities. He requested that from the outcome of those discussions, 3-4 key actions be established which would be delivered over a 12 month period.

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In response, The Chair, Dr David Crichton stated that the Board take his comments on board. However, were unable to change the past experiences. He commented that the Board does take these issues seriously and a number of reports had been discussed at the Board and feels that things are changing from the past. In his capacity as the Chair of CCG he stated that there was a high percentage of BME people within the medical profession. He assured Mr Brown that his comments had been acknowledged.

In reference to the comment made on apprenticeships, Councillor Nuala Fennelly, Cabinet member for Schools, Children and Young People stated that she was unaware that apprentices needed to have knowledge of operating systems within DMBC and asked Mr Brown to email her and she would investigate the issue and a response would be provided in due course.

Paul Tanney, Chief Executive St Leger Homes reported that the DMBC and St Leger Homes follow the equalities framework the same as all other public bodies. He accepted that there are pockets of under representation and these were being addressed in order to promote fairness to all employees. He stated that he would speak to the Head of HR outside of the meeting.

Alexandra Norrish, Programme Director, Hospital Services stated that a lot of work had been carried out with specific seldom heard groups including the BME communities and from the analysis of the population effected by the Hospital Review, data can be broken down which includes data on BME communities. The data can also be used to identify specific areas/communities which require specific further engagement. She commented that she would be happy to speak to Mr Brown outside of the meeting if he so wished.

Mr Brown was thanked for his attendance and his comments raised.