Case study: Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Introduction

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust (YAS) has implemented 'gateways' within its disciplinary and grievance processes along with a focus on education and support for managers to reduce the number of ethnic minority staff being taken through an unnecessary disciplinary process.

YAS covers nearly 6,000 square miles, providing emergency and urgent healthcare services to a population of over five million people across Yorkshire and the Humber. The trust employs more than 7,200 staff, 6.2% of whom are from an ethnic minority.

The trust's NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) submission for 2021/22 showed a decrease against metric three from 1.98 in 2020/21 to 0.59 (where 1.0 is equally as likely). This means ethnic minority staff are less likely than white staff to enter a formal disciplinary process.

The NHS Providers Race Equality programme and Hempsons team spoke to Nabila Ayub, head of diversity and inclusion, and Alison Cockerill, head of people services at YAS to hear more about the organisation's work to address disparities within the disciplinary process. In this case study, we share details of the interventions they have implemented, their impact, the challenges faced, and advice they would give to other board members.

YAS's four top tips for board members

• Do not be afraid to have what may feel like 'uncomfortable' conversations.
• Be open to criticism and do not become defensive.
• Invest in leadership development for new managers which includes guidance on staff support policies to ensure consistent implementation and how to have coaching conversations.
• Consider how interventions will be replicated across large and disparate organisations rather than collating centrally.