Hospital trusts in Nottinghamshire are taking additional measures to ensure its black and Asian minority ethnic (BAME) staff feel comfortable and safe in their roles.
The additional measures - such as offering psychological support, conducting risk assessments of BAME staff and informing management of any personal concerns - have been taken due to concerns BAME workers appear to be disproportionately affected by the coronavirus.
The concerns led NHS England to recommend health trusts in the UK assess BAME workers as "at potentially greater risk" from coronavirus on April 29.
Nottinghamshire Live contacted Sherwood Forest Hospitals (SFH) and Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) to find out how they are supporting staff who could be under ‘significant stress’ during the pandemic.
However, neither of the trusts have said they are prioritising testing or PPE for BAME workers, a policy that has been reported to have been implemented at trusts elsewhere in the UK.
Tracy Taylor, chief executive at NUH, said: “There has been a significant amount of global attention about the prevalence of Covid-19 and its potential impact on people from a BAME background. We recognise that this is causing concern amongst colleagues.
“Downing Street recently confirmed that the NHS and Public Health England will lead the review of evidence concerning the impact on people from BAME backgrounds.
“We will inform managers regarding the concerns about Covid-19 that exist for our BAME staff so they can receive direct support.
“We will make sure that risk assessments are carried out with BAME staff and any risks that are identified are rapidly acted upon.
“We can offer psychological support for all of our staff, but we do realise that our BAME colleagues may be under significant stress at this time. Any colleague who wants to access psychological support can do so.
“The final point to make is around research on any potential link between Covid-19 and BAME staff. In the UK Public Health England are looking at this from a statistical perspective and will hopefully report in the middle of May.”
NUH has 2,800 BAME employees, making up almost 17 percent of its workforce.
The trust conducts its own staff testing and has decided not to prioritise BAME staff so anyone who wants or needs a test and with symptoms can do so.
NUH has pointed out that it does not have problems where it is unable to test enough people, and therefore does not need to prioritise.
At Sherwood Forest Hospitals - where there are 680 BAME staff members - differences between the absent rates of BAME and non-BAME staff are being compared.
Clare Teeney, director of people and culture at Sherwood Forest Hospitals, said: “We are very aware that the news regarding BAME colleagues being at higher risk for Covid-19, is something that will be concerning our BAME colleagues.
“We are regularly reviewing staff Covid-19 absence rates, including details on any difference between BAME and non-BAME staff. By understanding this information, we are able to identify trends and themes and take swift and appropriate action.
"Any member of staff who is symptomatic for Covid-19 is able to get a test on site at Sherwood Forest Hospitals. We do not need to currently prioritise any particular staff group as anyone who needs a test is able to access one and we are actively encouraging our staff to do so.
"We continue to communicate with our BAME staff to ensure that they feel supported and are aware of all of the support and access to testing that is available.”
Risk assessments are also being undertaken at SFH that take into account “a number of factors” to ensure that all staff are not unnecessarily put at risk, and with staff safety being an “absolute priority.”
