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NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard

Learn about the NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) and how NHS organisations can address race equality issues. Access the latest report.

30 June 2025

Since 2015 all NHS organisations have been required to demonstrate how they are addressing race equality issues in a range of staffing areas through the Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES).

WRES 2024 report findings 

The WRES 2024 Data Analysis Report for NHS trusts published in June 2025, highlights the experience of black and minority ethnic (BME) people working in the NHS. It provides an overview of the data on all nine WRES indicators and where possible, comparison against data from previous years.

  • Key findings indicated that the proportion of BME people in the NHS workforce continues to rise. 28.6 per cent of the workforce across NHS trusts came from a BME background,  an increase of 14 per cent on the previous year.
  • Although the percentage of representation of BME staff at very senior manager (VSM) level has increased from 11.2 per cent to 12.7 per cent since last year, the largest representation of BME staff is at Agenda for Change (AfC) band 5 at 42.3 per cent. This indicates that BME staff are finding it harder to progress than their white counterparts. At 80 per cent of NHS trusts, white applicants were significantly more likely than BME applicants to be appointed from shortlisting, a worsening of the figures by 4 percentage points since 2003. 
  • BME board membership has also reached its highest level of 16.5 per cent since the WRES was established. However, its growth has not kept up with the rise in BME staff across the NHS workforce.
  • For staff from a black background only 42.2 per cent believe their trust provides equal opportunities for career progression or promotion.  
  • 24.9 per cent of BME staff reported experiencing harassment, bullying or abuse from staff in the last 12 months, compared to 20.7 for white staff. This shows there is still a long way to go for NHS employers to facilitate true workplace equality for BME staff.

If you have any queries, or require any clarification please contact the WRES team at england.WRES@nhs.net

  • The NHS Confederation's BME Leadership Network is a member-led network dedicated to establishing a truly diverse NHS leadership by strengthening the voice of black and minority ethnic communities. 

    They aim to bring about sustainable change, so the NHS always delivers high quality universal care to all communities, by supporting members to overcome strategic and operational barriers to delivering equality. 

    • It supports its members through a series of face to face events, virtual meetings and bulletins. 
    • It also gathers evidence to influence key decision makers, these findings are published in reports such as Excellence through equality and Shattered Hopes.
    • It also provides safe spaces for members to share experiences through member meetings, BME Leadership Network of Network Leaders for chairs of NHS staff BME/BAME networks and leadership development sessions exclusive to network members.

    The network is open to both NHS BME leaders and allies. Learn more about the BME Leadership Network and find out how to join.

  • The NHS Race and Health Observatory are an independent expert body, established by the NHS to examine the health inequalities experienced by black and minority ethnic communities in England. They work as a proactive investigator by actioning and insight, providing evidence-based health policy recommendations, and facilitating long-term transformational change across health and care.

    They are supported by NHS England and hosted by NHS Confederation and can be contact on info@nhsrho.org.

  • We ran a webinar with the authors of the Too Hot To Handle report, Roger Kline and Joy Warmington, and Capsticks to understand the report and its legal implications. This report aims to understand the NHS response to racism, what trusts and healthcare organisations do about it, and how effective they are at addressing it.

    The webinar covered

    • An overview of the report and its recommendations from the authors Roger Kline, research fellow at Middlesex University Business School and Joy Warmington, chief executive officer of charity brap.
    • Learning from the report and an understanding on how it can be used to address racial disparity and impact in your organisations. 
    • Looked at the associated legal implications and learning from previous tribunal cases, delivered by our legal partners Capsticks.
    • A discussion with NHS England on what steps need to be taken together and across the service in response to the report.

    Watch the too hot to handle webinar