At the start of May 2020, the NHS released their call to action to support BAME NHS people and communities during and beyond COVID-19. The NHS proposes that trusts ensure every staff member has a risk assessment to keep them safe, and that guidance will be provided to support employers to create proactive approaches for BAME staff, covering physical and mental health.
The BAMEed Network has identified a significant gap in the guidance provided by the education sector and seeks to address this immediately.
We request that you consider this document that we have put together with support from our NHS colleagues, and kindly ask that you circulate it for use by educational settings within your networks, and as widely as possible.
While it may not yet be clear why the danger of contracting COVID-19 and subsequent mortality rates are higher for BAME colleagues, it should be clear that a bespoke health and wellbeing offer for BAME staff should be developed and rolled out not just within the NHS, but also across the education system, as we start to encourage more teachers and children back into face to face contact. Through acknowledging the very different outcomes for BAME people in particular with regards COVID-19, this could be a vital opportunity to not only put in place safeguards for colleagues now, but also affect lasting change in the imbalance of power, decision-making and representation for BAME colleagues within our education organisations as a whole for the long term.
We are indebted to our education professionals, teachers and support staff alike, who are going above and beyond to adapt and excel, teaching and caring for the young people they serve in these difficult times. We need to harness our collective passion, and commitment to true equality for all, at a time of increased complexity, challenge and emotional strain. We hope we can make real and lasting change for our BAME colleagues and the communities we all serve.
Please see the guidance and risk assessment, which is hosted on the BAMEed Network website HERE.