Project led by UWE Bristol launches new resources to tackle racism and discrimination in healthcare education

A range of inclusive training and learning resources to tackle racism and discriminatory behaviour experienced by *Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic learners and international staff have been launched as part of the Integrated Care Academy led by UWE Bristol.

Funded by NHS England South West, the Inclusive Training within Practice (ITP) project will see resources and guidance on improving the experiences of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic students on healthcare programmes and international staff working in healthcare made available to all education providers and healthcare placement providers nationally.

Previous research through the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) Integrated Care System together with UWE Bristol found that racism, racial bias and discriminatory behaviour are issues affecting Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic healthcare students, backed also by findings from the NHS Workforce Race Equality Standards.

Taking a multi-disciplinary approach to these challenges, the project engaged with 16 organisations and 100 diverse individuals from healthcare placement providers, higher education institutions and further education colleges across the South West to collaborate and explore challenges and opportunities. It is hoped the project will improve the experience of students and staff, create a greater sense of belonging and reduce the ethnicity awarding gap.

Targeting Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions programmes, the ITP project has produced a number of resources, from interactive e-learning packages on implicit bias and intercultural communication, guidance on inclusive teaching and student support in practice, and anti-racism trainer-led programmes.

Mary Njoki, an Adult Nursing student at UWE Bristol, took part in a peer support video on intercultural communication for the ITP project, where she shared some of the challenges she experienced when she arrived in the UK, as well as giving tips to international students.

She said: “Throughout the ITP project, I felt included and valued. The ITP project will allow us to open doors to new opportunities and new relationships which in return helps us understand, appreciate and grow together in the journey of knowledge. I'm honoured to have been part of this amazing project.”

The ITP project has been developed through UWE Bristol’s Integrated Care Academy, the South West’s inaugural centre, which brings together the NHS, commercial organisations, charity and independent sector partners across local and regional health and social care systems.

Professor Marc Griffiths, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Health at UWE Bristol said: “The co-creation of learning resources through the work undertaken by colleagues involved in the Inclusive Training within Practice project will help to support Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic learners, health and care students, and international staff across the South West of England. This is such an important piece of collaborative work that not only looks at the design of inclusive learning resources, but also the culture within organisations and our collective ambition to remove any form of racism and discrimination across organisations and systems.”

Resources are published on NHS Learning Hub (search for ‘InclusiveTrainingwithinPractice’). Find out about the Integrated Care Academy here.

*While ‘global majority’ is UWE Bristol’s preferred terminology, this particular project and NHS England use the term ‘Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic’ and therefore this is the terminology used throughout this article.