• WRES

Since 2015 all NHS organisations have been required to demonstrate how they are addressing race equality issues in a range of staffing areas through the Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES).

NHS Employers works closely with NHS England, the Equality and Diversity Council and employers to ensure that the metrics and the associated guidance are clear and comprehensive and that trusts understand their duties under the WRES.

The WRES highlights the experience of black and minority ethnic (BME) people working in the NHS.  It provides an overview of the data on all nine WRES indicators and where possible, comparison against data from previous years.

Understanding the data is one of the steps in helping organisations to develop evidence-based action plans, to improve on the workforce race equality agenda.  The data collated to date shows there has been a year on year improvement in BME representation in the most senior NHS roles (including at board level) and an increase in recruitment from these backgrounds the annual reports also show that the health service still needs to progress in a number of areas.