One of UK's top employers for equality
Barts Health has been named among the UK’s top 50 organisations for taking action to improve social mobility in the workplace.
Based in east London, home to some of the country's most ethnically diverse and deprived communities, it is one of only two NHS Trusts to make the list.
It is the second year running that the Trust has been included in what is believed to be the world’s only Social Mobility Employer Index.
The Trust was hailed in particular for its success in hiring young people through community outreach programmes, reaching out to schools with above average levels of free school meals and low levels of attainment.
All young people who applied for permanent roles through outreach have been hired, as well as almost 8 in 10 who applied through a recruitment scheme such as apprenticeships.
Judges also congratulated the Trust for:
•Collecting data on staff ethnicity and setting diversity targets
•Holding an annual awards ceremony to showcase and congratulate individual attainment, and
•Bucking a national trend by offering more apprenticeships at levels 2 and 3.
Andrew Attfield, Associate Director of Public Health at Barts Health NHS Trust said: "At Barts Health we absolutely believe that everyone should have equal opportunities to succeed and realise their potential, which we know provides the best opportunity for positive life choices.
“I am delighted that so many people are benefiting from this ambition, and that our continued commitment to equal opportunities has once again been recognised by the Social Mobility Foundation."
Research has consistently shown that people from more affluent backgrounds take a disproportionate number of the best jobs and that employers tend to disproportionately employ graduates who went to private schools and a small number of universities.
The Index is the creation of the Social Mobility Foundation and is published in partnership with sponsors the City of London Corporation. It ranks the UK’s employers on the actions they are taking to ensure they are open to accessing and progressing talent from all backgrounds.
David Johnston, Chief Executive of the Social Mobility Foundation, added: "We have been very impressed by the efforts employers are making to ensure their organisation is open to talent from all backgrounds. We can really see organisations taking a whole host of actions to try and ensure that they have a diverse workforce in terms of socio-economic background as well as in terms of gender and race; they in turn are benefitting from accessing a much wider talent pool than they have traditionally recruited from. All entrants should be praised for broadening their approach.”