No More Casualties

Nursing is a profession deeply rooted in caring for others and one of the most striking observations made by nurses every day is how inequitable health care services can be.

Demographic change as a result of population movements, successive enactments of equalities legislation have raised public awareness of the economic and social need for equitable opportunities for every member of our society regardless of background or origin.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council is now collecting data, albeit voluntarily about the ethnic origin of registrants.

The NHS is yet to publish data about the ethnic origin of its employees which makes it difficult to asses the fairness of local employer appointment and job promotion processes and even less information is available from the independent sector.

So this book is in itself a first by tailoring the career and development advice that is plentifully and generally available for BME nurses in particular.

I am sure the text will be an essential addition to the actions already underway to bring greater equity into the workplace and to make it possible for every nurse to have their best shot at achieving their ambitions. Frances Pickersgill, Development Editor, Nursing Standard On the whole Britain is becoming a more just and fairer society but we need to speed up the process.

Several years ago it was estimated that at the current rate of progress it will take until the yeah 2108 before people from ethnic minorities get the same prospects as white people.

The new equality Act 2010 seeks to substantially speed up this process but changes in the law alone may not be enough.

Equality is not only a moral stance, there are overwhelming economic reasons to ensure we utilise the skills and strengths of everyone in our diverse community.

The NHS as the major employer understands this and supports its entire staff in realising their potential.

David Carter, Equality and Diversity Manager NHS Barking and Dagenham