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NHS bodies question Barclay on stopping EDI roles


www.personneltoday.com | Jo Faragher

Health service bodies have questioned a call from the health secretary Steve Barclay to halt recruitment into equality roles.

On 19 October, Barclay wrote to chairs of integrated care boards in England asking for them to scrap recruitment into specialist equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) roles, which he claims are not “value for money”.

He argues that “these issues are everyone’s responsibility and should be addressed through normal management processes rather than using external providers or dedicated roles within organisations”.

His letter follows another push against EDI initiatives in March, when Barclay wrote to a number of health quangos asking them to review their membership of diversity bodies such as Stonewall.

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union accused Barclay of “playing petty politics”.

General secretary Mark Serwotka said: “The NHS and its providers, under the Public Sector Equality Duty, have a legal requirement to address issues around EDI.

“These specialist roles are vital to tackle inequalities and discrimination in our health care system and wider society.”

He pointed to last year’s Messenger review, which determined that EDI roles are essential in all levels of the health service.

“There is no division between so-called front line and back office workers, the majority of whom are trade union members, committed to improving equality for patients and staff,” he added.

Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of…


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