Inclusivity: NMC reports rise in discrimination against staff
Posted 17 December 2021 - 11:30
Nursing and Midwifery Council reports increase in discrimination against black and minority ethnic staff and affirms commitment to create inclusive environment
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has recorded an increase in staff from a black and minority ethnic background experiencing discrimination in 2021.
Figures from the regulator’s second Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) survey report, published today, also show an increase in white members reporting discrimination.
Survey respondents say they experience harassment, bullying and abuse
Some 11.9% of black and minority ethnic respondents to the regulator’s workforce survey said they had experienced discrimination, up from 9.2% in 2020. While 7.8% of white respondents reported discrimination, an increase on last year’s 5.3%.
Black, minority ethnic and white staff all said they had experienced harassment, bullying and abuse from internal and external sources.
In 2020, there were no reports of harassment or bullying in the NMC from external sources, but this year, 4% of black and minority ethnic respondents and 0.8% of white respondents said they had experienced it.
In more positive news, the report shows a 30% increase in employees believing the regulator provides equal career opportunities. In 2020, only 5% of employees believed there were equal career opportunities, but that has jumped to 35% in 2021.
NMC is committed to creating inclusive and positive working environment
More than 39% of NMC colleagues are from a black or minority ethnic background, more than 19% higher than the average among NHS trusts and arms-length bodies that completed the 2021 WRES survey.
The survey also revealed a reduction in the number of black and minority ethnic colleagues referred to disciplinary processes.
NMC chief executive Andrea Sutcliffe said the regulator was committed to creating an ‘inclusive and positive working environment’.
‘I’m glad more of our colleagues feel confident about equal career opportunities at the NMC than they did last year,’ she added.
Ethnicity pay gap decreases, while gender pay gap increases, says NMC
The regulator will now work towards implementing specific actions to increase diversity among senior colleagues, including a mentoring scheme for colleagues from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.
A people plan will be introduced in January 2022, underpinned by ‘principles of equality, diversity and inclusion’.
Alongside the WRES report, the NMC has published several reports on pay. The Ethnicity Pay Gap Report shows the gap has decreased from 28.7% in 2020 to 23.7% in 2021.
The Gender Pay Gap Report shows the gap has increased from 3.4% to 4.9%, which the NMC said is caused by a reduction in men working in lower to middle roles.
Ms Sutcliffe said the ethnicity pay gap was still much too big: ‘We know we’ve still got a long way to go to address career progression, and the issues highlighted in our pay gap reports. We’ll get there by working with our colleagues to become a role model for equality.'
Find out more
- NMC – Ethnicity Pay Gap Report 2021
- NMC – Gender Pay Gap Report 2021
- NMC – Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) Survey 2021 Initial Findings
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