An anti-racism statement from our chief executive and chair

We wholeheartedly condemn the racist abuse experienced by some members of the England football team this week and stand alongside the whole team to oppose racism. No-one should ever experience verbal and physical abuse or threats, nor should they feel devalued, experience prejudice, discrimination or oppression. Everyone deserves to be treated with the same level of kindness and respect no matter who they are.

We are proud to say we are an anti-racist organisation. Our Trust values everyone equally but we acknowledge that racism and inequality exist and there is much more we need to do. We will not tolerate any form of racism, and pledge to proactively root out racism and tackle it head on.

As an organisation we take pride in our richly diverse workforce. We actively want to recruit a workforce reflective of our communities and build a culture of diverse, inclusive leadership, stronger voice, advancement of opportunity and allyship.

We also play an active role in the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health Care Partnership anti-racism work and campaign. Our partnership approach means we are stronger together to call out racism and ensure our workforce have opportunities to be heard and share their experiences, and that spaces are created to support reflective learning. This means everyone has the skills and confidence to call out racism and tackle it head on.

This past year we have seen the inequalities in health highlighted further and we know we have more to do. We are committed to person-centred, culturally and spiritually inclusive care and we need everyone to play an active part led by an educated leadership team, staff networks, and wider workforce. We are stronger together and have much more in common than that which divides us.