NHS creates hundreds of ‘woke’ diversity and inclusion roles despite fight against waste
- There will be three new departments and 244 positions recruited across the NHS
The NHS has created hundreds of diversity and inclusion roles, a move that has “frustrated” Health Secretary Steve Barclay.
In the plans seen by the TelegraphThe NHS has proposed three new departments: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, People and Culture, and People and Communities.
244 roles will be recruited across all departments, despite Barclay writing to health bodies in March demanding diversity and inclusion be covered within “normal management processes” rather than specific teams.
A source close to Mr Barclay described dedicated equality teams as “enforcing woke doctrines” and the Health Secretary himself urged NHS England to ditch the roles to “ensure good value for money.” “.
It comes as NHS waiting lists in England soar to a record level, with 7.68 million – or one in seven people – waiting for routine treatment.
In plans seen by the Telegraph, the NHS has proposed three new departments: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, People and Culture, and People and Communities.
Almost £14m has been budgeted to staff the new D&I departments, which will come into effect from April next year. There is a staff budget of £3 million for a specific Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) department.
Of the 244 positions, 177 of those hired will have a salary of more than £50,000.
The new EDI department will focus on “policy, knowledge and expertise in areas other than race and disability”, while other new departments, People and Culture, and People and Communities, will examine inclusion such as health and inequalities LGBT.
A source close to the Health Secretary described the move as “reorganizing backroom bureaucracy instead of frontline patient care”.
Despite calling for a focus on patient care, Barclay has eliminated one in six Department of Health officer positions since October, reducing the workforce by about 600 employees.
Frank Young, director of right-wing think tank Civitas, said: “Most ordinary people will be horrified to see once again money being spent on equality advisers that could be spent on treating sick people in hospitals.”
Young also stated that the new roles would “likely” come at the cost of “genuine healthcare delivery to patients,” although he did not provide evidence for this claim.
It comes as NHS waiting lists in England soar to a record level, with 7.68 million, or one in seven people, waiting for routine treatment (file photo)
The increased equality role in the NHS comes after The Independent revealed in January that the health service had failed to improve “shocking” levels of racism among staff.
One in three black workers said they have experienced discrimination or harassment, compared to just one in five white staff members. Rates were found to have not improved over the past five years.
An NHS spokesperson told the Telegraph: “While there are legal equality duties, the NHS must comply and has an important contribution to make in retaining and recruiting the hundreds of thousands of NHS staff needed to care for patients now. and in the future”. , the number of EDI roles in NHS England has been reduced by more than a third over the last year as part of our efforts to ensure an even greater proportion of NHS funding reaches the frontline.’
MailOnline has contacted NHS England and DHSC for comment.
