Humber and North Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership is working collaboratively across our system to ensure all colleagues feel safe, welcome and supported.

We want every person to be able to bring their whole self to work and thrive through equity, justice and opportunity.

The Partnership does this through the Inclusion Assembly – our system working group focused on workforce inclusion.

Over the last year, members of the HNY Inclusion Assembly have been identifying key priorities for our workforce inclusion work across our partnership.

Allyship and advocacy was highlighted as a priority, specifically around incorporating all protected characteristics to respect the additional barriers that arise when different parts of our identities intersect. This is known as intersectionality and the Assembly approaches our system inclusion work from this position.

Watch this video to find out more about intersectionality*

The Assembly is working with Diversity Company to co-design and co-deliver a system-level approach to allyship that will be shared across all health and care organisations in the form of staff training sessions. We are working in partnership with minoritised colleagues to redefine allyship for our system.

What is allyship?

Allyship requires work, an ongoing commitment to self-education, self-awareness and an understanding of your own biases and privilege.

Allyship is about ongoing action, not about a single statement.

There are currently lots of different ways that we understand allyship across our partnership. However, we recognise that there is strength in numbers – bringing together the knowledge and lived experience of minoritised colleagues across our system to co-design one approach for Humber and North Yorkshire will strengthen our commitment to inclusion across our health and care system and equip colleagues with the knowledge and skills needed to be an active ally.

All system-level inclusion activity is co-designed with minoritised colleagues from across health and care and is informed by lived experience.

This project was open to both minoritised colleagues and active allies, however, spaces were clearly defined for each group.

Although the HNY Inclusion Assembly includes co-chairs, faciliators and leaders from staff networks in organisations across our partnership, colleagues did not need to be a member of a staff network or of the Assembly to take part.

The project was open to any minoritised colleague, but we were particularly interested in hearing from:

• colleagues who are ethnically minoritised or have a culturally diverse background
• disabled colleagues or those living with a long-term health condition (physical and / or mental health)
• neurodivergent colleagues
• colleagues who are part of the LGBT+ community

Active allies were also welcome to take part in later stages of the co-design and development.

The project has two phases:

1. Co-design of approach and training materials
2. ‘Train the trainer’

We are now in phase two of the project and have confirmed our date for the ‘train the trainer’ session – please let us know if you have not received your invitation to this session.

Both stages of the process are delivered virtually using MS Teams.

You can find out more by downloading our quick project overview or by emailing the best place to work team at HNY.Inc@nhs.net.