• Ensure training for people in care roles incorporates different cultural needs.
• Recruit more carers from BAME backgrounds.
• Meet the cultural needs of ethnic minority patients.
• Ensure greater diversity of the workforce.
• Ensure services are responsive to the needs of the individual.

What we are doing

There are multi-faith reference books in all healthcare settings.

Training for the in-house Home Support workforce incorporates a focus on cultural needs and requirements.

We have a spiritual assessment tool used in wards and with teams which helps encourage person-centred care by identifying cultural needs (including dietary, religious and social aspects).

Action plans and strategies are in place across partnership organisations to increase BAME representation including – anonymous recruitment, unconscious bias training, targeted recruitment campaigns and positive action teams in place etc.

Equality and diversity training is offered to employees across the partner organisations.

What we plan to do

Consult with organisations that provide care services to identify training needs for the current workforce and also the recruitment of paid care workers from BAME communities.

We will restart engagement events in NHS Lanarkshire with faith and belief communities to re-connect after the restrictions of Covid.

We will host the annual Spiritual Care Forum in September where the focus will be on community development.

NHS Lanarkshire will share the spiritual; assessment tool with the wider workforce and make it part of training for new staff.

First Steps to Youth Work training course is planned to be delivered to adults from resettled communities.

"Before they (social and personal care services) send people to support the person, they need to make sure that person has at least the knowledge of the culture."

"There are not enough people from our culture to understand what the elderly will go through during the time when they need personal care."