NHS EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY COUNCIL WELCOMES NEW APPOINTMENTS

You and Yours broadcaster Liz Barclay, former BBC community affairs correspondent and academic Barnie Choudhury and Celia Grandison-Markey, co-founder and chair of the Confederation of Black & Ethnic Minority Nurses Midwives & Health, will broaden the council’s expertise.

They join NHS Leaders and trade union and third sector representatives on the council, which was set up in August 2009 to champion improvement in equality and diversity performance throughout the NHS. 

Sir David Nicholson, NHS Chief Executive and Chair of the Equality and Diversity Council, said:
 
“The NHS is committed to improving quality for our patients. We are on a fantastic journey of reform as we seek to move to a system that can wrap services around the needs of all our patients. ‘Everyone Counts’, a core NHS value, is something we aim to make a reality through the Equality and Diversity Council.

“In Ceila Grandison-Markey, Barnie Choudhury and Liz Barclay, we have lay members who are passionate about transforming equality and diversity across healthcare and I am looking forward to working with them to improve quality for our patients and local communities.”

Barnie Choudhury said:

 “I'm honoured to have been asked to join the Equality and Diversity Council. This is a chance to make a real difference to people’s lives. We all know the challenges ahead are tough and so are the times we live in. But I'm a half-glass-full kind of guy - and I look forward to volunteering my passions for something I truly believe in.”

The NHS Equality and Diversity Council will:   

• set the framework to support and encourage NHS staff and organisations to work closely with the communities they serve in the delivery of personalised services;
• ensure NHS leaders champion equality and diversity issues to fulfil the ambition of the NHS Constitution; and
• champion the involvement of all in the innovation and spread of good practice across the NHS.