For the 75th anniversary of the arrival of HMT Empire Windrush, Sally Warren and other panelists will celebrate the significant contribution Caribbean and Ethnic Minority staff make to the health and care system.

This free online event will discuss:

The persistent trends in the lived experience of working in the NHS of the Windrush generations and their descendants
The disproportionate disparities in employment and working conditions faced by BME staff
The UK’s continued heavy reliance on international recruitment to plug health and care workforce gaps.

As the latest Workforce Race Equality Standard shows, Black and Minority Ethnic staff make up almost a quarter of the NHS workforce. The pandemic brought into sharp focus their significant presence on the frontline, when they were potentially at greater risk of contracting COVID-19 than their white colleagues.

Sally Warren will chair the event and will be joined on the panel by:

Charles Kwaku-Odoi from the Caribbean and African Health Network
Dr Habib Naqvi from the Race and Health Observatory
Sherill Gregory, a former NHS midwife who has been interviewed as part of our new exhibition
Shilpa Ross, who led The King’s Fund’s work on workforce race inequalities and inclusion in NHS trusts

This invite-only event will coincide with the launch of a new King’s Fund online exhibition celebrating the contribution of the Windrush generations to the NHS. It will use a mixture of interviews with past and current staff and existing oral history testimony, as well as archival materials.

Please register online to confirm your attendance and receive details of how to join the event.

If you have any further questions, please contact Nicole Moore, n.moore@kingsfund.org.uk.

Please note: All contributions are on the record.

This event will be recorded and shared afterwards with those invited to join the event. By joining this event all participants give permission for their contribution to be recorded and shared by The King’s Fund.

Windrush 75: reflecting on the contributions of generations to the NHS