Published on: 7 July 2025
An NHS Trust has strengthened its commitment to becoming a fully anti-racist and anti-discriminatory organisation with the launch of a new framework putting race equity for all at its heart.
Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (MPFT) has developed its Anti-Racist Statement and Framework to support the recognition and challenge of racism and discrimination in any form and help create safe, fair and inclusive environments for all patients, staff and the communities it serves.
In the 2024 NHS Staff Survey, 75% of respondents said they would recommend MPFT as a great place to work, with 81% stating the Trust respects individual differences.
The framework commits to building on this, ensuring anti-racism is at the core of the Trust and is focused around four key themes:
- Recognising it: Learning to identify where bias excludes people or forms part of racist systems
- Saying it: Openly naming racism and discussing its effects so that every form of discrimination is acknowledged
- Seeing it: Understanding how racism – and its intersections with other forms of discrimination – affects services, care and workplace
- Acting on it: Making clear, measurable changes in our policies, practices and behaviours to remove racist structures.
This will be put into action in a range of ways, including developing enhanced training for all staff, clearer ways for any incidents to be reported, diverse panels, and scrutinising existing Trust policies, systems and practices
The Anti-Racist Statement and Framework was signed on behalf of the Trust Board by MPFT Chair Jackie Small, and Chief Executive, Neil Carr.
Jackie said: “I cannot understate the importance of this framework to the organisation and the communities we serve. Our people are our greatest asset and empowering them to recognise and challenge all forms of racism, discrimination and bias is key to our ability to provide the best care and create environments where all patients and staff feel safe and are treated with dignity and respect.”
Neil added: “I’m proud that our organisation has an unwavering commitment to fostering an environment of equity for all and understands that any number of people experiencing racism or discrimination is too many. This framework is about acknowledging those challenges and instances and ensuring everybody associated with MPFT understands what they can do to create a culture where all individuals are valued and supported.”
Both statement and framework support MPFT’s Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Strategy and its United in Uniqueness philosophy to ensure the Trust is somewhere everyone can thrive.