The underrepresentation of minority ethnic nurses in top-level roles is a “scandal”, an event for a programme aiming to address this issue has heard.
The Florence Nightingale Foundation held a celebration event on 16 February for its most recent graduates of its Windrush Leadership Programme.
“Because actually, it’s a scandal that that is the case”
Andrea Sutcliffe
The programme offers band 5, 6 and 7 nurses and midwives from minority ethnic backgrounds – also referred to as global majority backgrounds – training and support to prepare them for future leadership positions in health and care.
Among the supporters attending the event was Andrea Sutcliffe, chief executive and registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council, which provides funding for the programme alongside Health Education England.
Addressing graduates, Ms Sutcliffe said the programme was important because people from global majority backgrounds made up about a quarter of NMC registrants, but the same representation was not seen in leadership roles.
Andrea Sutcliffe
She said: “What we don’t see is a quarter of the leadership positions in nursing and midwifery occupied by people from the global majority, and that’s what this programme is there to try and sort out.
“Because actually, it’s a scandal that that is the case. It is a lot of talent.”
Ms Sutcliffe said it was time to “stop handwringing” about this issue of underrepresentation and take action to redress it.
“I’m sure you’ve heard lots of people stand on platforms saying ‘this is dreadful, we need to do something about it’,” added Ms Sutcliffe.
“We’ve actually got to do something, and that’s what the Windrush programme is all about.”
The event also involved presentations from some of the graduates about their career journeys and the quality improvement projects that they have undertaken as part of the programme.
One graduate, a neonatal nurse who qualified in 1994, explained how, since joining the programme, she had been able to progress to a band 7 role for the first time.
Fellow graduate Adele Thaxter, a health visitor at Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust, used her quality improvement project for the Windrush programme to try and remove some of the barriers around career progression for minority ethnic NHS staff.
Adele Thaxter
Her project has seen her trust introduce an offer for staff to undergo a 30-hour placement in an area they are interested in moving into, in order to support a future application for a new job in that area armed with relevant experience.
Speaking to Nursing Times, Ms Thaxter said she had faced challenges herself in her career when she had attempted to progress, for example being refused time in work hours for training when she wanted to move into a safeguarding role.
In addition, while she was on the Windrush programme, she was turned down for a band 7 post due to another candidate having more experience.
“It’s just little things, it’s not always obvious, but it’s little things and little setbacks that you feel aren’t right and aren’t fair,” she said.
Ms Thaxter’s placement scheme was launched by the trust in November 2022 and so far two people have completed it.
She said feedback to date had been positive and she was now hoping to expand it in the trust and make it permanent.
“I realise now that my differences are what make me unique”
Adele Thaxter
In the future, she would like to see it extended to other trusts too.
“I’d love for other trusts to adopt it and know the reasoning behind it and to take it on board and see that it’s something that’s needed,” said Ms Thaxter.
Ms Thaxter explained how her background, upbringing and life experiences had “really moulded who I am as a person and as a professional”.
Growing up on a council estate in a deprived area, Ms Thaxter left school with two GCSEs in Spanish and PE.
When she was 17, she became pregnant and was supported on a midwife and health visitor-led programme for young mothers, which inspired her to pursue these careers herself.
Qualifying as a midwife in 2017, Ms Thaxter then went on to qualify as a health visitor in 2021. In the same year, she was diagnosed with a learning disability. She is also a single mother to three boys.
Ms Thaxter told Nursing Times: “For a long time, I always thought that there was something wrong with me or that for some reason, I shouldn’t be where I am, or maybe it was a mistake that I got firsts in my degrees or maybe it was a fluke.
“But I realise now that my differences are what make me unique, and they are actually my strengths and not my weaknesses.”
She encouraged others to consider schemes like the Windrush programme.
“It’s really amazing… for understanding yourself, it increases your confidence, it just teaches you things that you don’t know, like stepping into authority. Things that you don’t normally think about and your place in the community and how you can be a leader,” said Ms Thaxter.
“It really helps shape your way of thinking and understanding that you can be a leader no matter where you are… whether it’s banding or what role you in, you can be a leader.”
The Windrush Leadership Programme has been running since 2019 with around 300 people taking part to date. The programme will be continuing until at least 2024.
