Revisiting the Room of Requirement

I only wear black. All my clothes are black and have been for many years. I never have any problem choosing what to wear each day, and clothes shopping is a doddle. My one concession to colour is my clogs. I have a large collection of many different coloured clogs. However, I have only been wearing one yellow and one blue clog every day for the last 910 days. I have been doing so as a visible sign to others of my support for the people of Ukraine. On the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I put them on. I didn’t expect that the war would go on for such a long. Sadly there doesn’t seem to be much prospect of an end to the conflict any time soon.

Events in the past week have made me reflect on the reasons I still wear the yellow and blue clogs as a symbol of my support for Ukraine. For example, I could wear one white and one blue clog as a symbol of my support for Israel or green and red/white as a symbol of my support for the people of Palestine. There is a great deal of conflict across the world, and my support from one side or another is not reflected in my choice of coloured footwear. Ukraine being the exception.

Last week a number of colleagues contacted me and Karen our CEO regarding the messages we sent out regarding the tragic events in Southport and the riots and civil unrest that followed. In the main these were messages of support and thanks. However, we were also asked why we hadn’t mentioned, specifically, one type of racism or another or call out particular conflicts. Interestingly for me, in earlier drafts of our messages I had included examples of world conflicts, including Ukraine, Gaza, Bangladesh and Syria. Given the first civil unrest attacks in Southport, were directed against a local mosque, I had also referenced Islamophobia.

We had asked our Communications Team, and our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion colleagues for their advice about the how we were framing our messages. Whilst we had no intention to exclude individual, group or community, we were advised to remove the specific references to particular conflicts and particular types of racism. We heeded this advice, although I questioned myself as to whether this was the right thing to do. At one level I could understand the rationale and reasoning behind the advice, but my intuitive and emotional self was troubled for sure.

What was clear and unambiguous in our communications to colleagues, was our commitment as an organisation to address and challenge racism, intolerance and discrimination of all kinds in our organisation. Sadly, there is evidence that some colleagues are still experiencing such behaviours and often on a regular basis. Like many other NHS organisations we have developed a wonderful spiritual hub that recognises, embraces and supports different faiths, cultures and backgrounds. When I first saw the hub I was reminded of the Harry Potters Room of Requirement at Hogwarts. As in Harry Potter, our spiritual hub is there to try and help folk whatever their background, troubles or needs might be. Unlike in Harry Potter however, there is no need for anyone to walk past the door three times to gain entry. 

The hub is a small, but an important statement, of our wider commitment to becoming an antiracist organisation. We want to celebrate diversity, and to recognise the conversations we need to continue to have around equality, equity, civility and inclusivity. We all need to work together to create a place where hope triumphs over hate, where we care for each other in the same way we care for our service users. I was also reminded of the importance of striving towards these outcomes last week as I attended an NHS England North West Regional Office meeting.

These are regular meetings chaired by the NHSE Regional Director and to which all Chairs and CEOs from across the region are invited to attend. Usually these are meetings predominately given over to discussing financial concerns, performance issues and national policy. They don’t tend to be fun meetings. This month’s meeting, however, was given over almost entirely to reflecting on the impact on colleagues and their organisations of the Southport attacks. To say that listening to colleagues’ stories was both emotional and challenging would be an understatement. These were powerful narratives. Incredibly humbling too.

The accounts remined me of what a wonderful institution the NHS is. How people from all different backgrounds, and perhaps holding different personal, cultural and religious beliefs find ways to work together in the most challenging of situations. Many of our colleagues who looked after those injured in the attack, were a day later, equally looking after people who had been on the streets rioting. I found that single fact filling me with hope, pride and love for all that is good in our NHS and the wider communities we serve. 

Clogs. I think the time has come to hang up my yellow and blue clogs. I think from now on I will chose a random pair from my wardrobe each day and let other folk worry as to what the different colours might mean.