Workforce Race Equality Standard

The NHS Equality and Diversity Council announced on 31 July 2014 that it had agreed action to ensure employees from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds have equal access to career opportunities and receive fair treatment in the workplace. Studies show that a motivated, included and valued workforce helps deliver high quality patient care, increased patient satisfaction and better patient safety.

 

NHS providers are expected to show progress against a number of indicators of workforce equality, including a specific indicator to address the low numbers of BME board members across the organisation.

 

In April 2015, the WRES was mandated through the NHS standard contract, starting in 2015/16. From 2017, independent healthcare providers are required to publish their WRES data.

 

The first WRES report was published in June 2016, since then a report has been published each year and you can find all of the previous reports by clicking here.