Supporting Black History Month 2025

• Adopt an anti-racist approach: make it a core part of conversations and actions. 

• Address policies and structural issues: organisations must review and amend policies. 

• Consider systemic issues: reflect on theories and identities to guide actions. 

• Use data and monitor progress: recognise that data is only valuable when acted upon and ensure you meet your milestones. 

• Use existing frameworks and models: follow the Race and Health Observatory’s Seven Anti-racism Principles, use NHS England’s Patient Care Race Equality Framework and the Institute for Race Relations tools.   

• Engage with your BME staff through networks: use the power of networks for collective action and actively listen to their challenges. 

• Storytelling: share stories to humanise data and illustrate impacts. 

• Implement and demonstrate a zero-tolerance policy on racism and bullying. 

• Be accountable as a leader: also hold leaders to account. 

• Look for disparities within the career development of your staff and work to close gaps through active career management policies. 

• Support BME people in their leadership roles through standing your moral ground and refusing to collude with others' bad behaviour. 

• Encourage more BME staff to become Freedom to Speak Up guardians. 

• Ensure the diversity of your board reflects the diversity of your staff and service users. 

• The NHS Confederation's BME Leadership Network exists to strengthen the voice of NHS Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) leaders and to support NHS organisations to meet the needs of all communities. Membership is open to both NHS BME leaders and allies. Visit the BME Leadership Network page to become a member.  

• The Workforce Race Equality Standard 2024 report  indicated that BAME staff make up 28.6 per cent of the workforce across NHS trusts. Whilst this is positive, the survey also indicated that 24.9 per cent of BAME staff reported harassment, bullying or abuse from colleagues in the last 12 months, and are less likely to be appointed than their white counterparts. 

• The NHS England Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) plan seeks to tackle these issues with high impact actions two and six:
  • High-impact two requires NHS organisations to embed fair and inclusive recruitment processes and talent management strategies that target under-representation and lack of diversity.   
  • High-impact action six requires organisations to create an environment that eliminates the conditions in which bullying, discrimination, harassment, and physical violence at work occur. To achieve this, organisations are required to review data by protected characteristic, including BME status and gender, and set reduction targets by March 2024, and implement a plan to improve the staff experience of these groups.  

• Fair Futures: Regional Roadshows on Ethnicity Pay and Progression in Healthcare  

  The NHS Race and Health Observatory are hosting a series of regional roadshows, taking place between 18 September and 27 November 2025. The sessions will bring together NHS and healthcare leaders, managers, EDI professionals, clinicians, researchers, and advocates to confront and address the current state of racial inequalities within the NHS workforce. Participants will engage in keynote presentations, panel discussions, and interactive workshops that focus on data trends, research, and effective strategies for improvement. Case studies will not only highlight the challenges, but also the actions that can be taken to make the NHS a fairer and more equitable workplace for individuals from all ethnic backgrounds. 

• RCN London Black History Month event: Elevate, Accelerate and Celebrate
  Friday 10 October 2025, 10–4pm, London  

  Join the RCN London to support your professional growth, be inspired and celebrate Black History.  

• Celebrating Black History Month: an evening with Lord Adebowale CBE and Baroness Warsi  
  Tuesday 14 October 2025, 5:30-8:30pm, London    

  The NHS Confederation’s BME Leadership Network and the NHS Race and Health Observatory are hosting an evening celebration in London, featuring Lord Adebowale CBE and Baroness Warsi. They will share exclusive insights on what it means to be a pioneering leader from a BME background. Please note due to demand this event has sold out. 

To be featured in this section, let us know if you are running any events this Black History Month by emailing us at diversityandinclusion@nhsemployers.org.  

• Read this blog by Alexandra Ankrah, Keeping equality at the forefront of NHS changes. Alex reflects on the NHS changes and persistent inequalities highlighted in the WRES and WDES reports, as well as sharing her hopes for a future NHS that leaves no one behind. 

• Explore this briefing on An investment not a drain - healthcare leaders' views on EDI in the NHS, published by the NHS Confederation highlighting perspectives from the service on the value of EDI to the NHS. 

• Visit the official Black History Month website to find out what else is happening during the month. 

• Access the Act Against Racism guidance and resources, published by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. It helps mental health employers tackle racism in the workplace. 

• Read the NHS Confederation's Shattered Hopes report which explores the experiences of BME leaders’ and challenges in breaking the glass ceiling in the NHS. It shares reflections on the lived experience of senior black and minority ethnic leaders in the NHS. 

• Learn how you can take action against inequality by accessing the combatting racial discrimination against nurses, midwives, and nursing associates resource, published by NHS England, NHS Confederation, and the Nursing and Midwifery Council. It provides advice on the action you can take if you witness or experience racism. It also supports those in leadership roles to become inclusive leaders. 

• Read the NHS Confederation's anti-racism report Excellence through equality: anti-racism as a quality improvement tool. It includes examples of good practice case studies from BME Leadership Network members to help advance equality within the workforce and for service users. 

• Learn more about the NHS Race and Health Observatory  hosted by the NHS Confederation and supported by NHS England, which has been established to investigate the impact of race and ethnicity on people’s health.