Meenaxi shares what Black History Month means to her
As part of our Black History Month celebrations, we have been speaking with our staff to find out more about what Black History Month means to them, what the theme ‘saluting our sisters’ brings to mind, and their favourite inspiring black women in history.
This week, we had a catch up with Meenaxi Shah, Team Lead Occupational Therapist to find out more.
Meenaxi came to the UK from Kenya when she was 18 years old to study occupational therapy and has been working in the NHS for over 40 years.
Meenaxi said: “At the start of my career, it felt like I was the only Asian therapist, and you did not see many people from a minority ethnic background in various roles. Throughout my time in the NHS, I have witnessed many challenges that staff from a black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) background faced – from not feeling like you don’t belong to feeling restricted to gain promotions.
“Black History Month to me means being able to use our voices to speak and raise awareness about the work that our black colleagues have done over the years and how it is helped open paths for those new in their careers. Black history means being able to highlight staff experiences – both the good and bad and being able to share those personal stories with colleagues and the wider NHS community.
“The theme this year is ‘saluting our sisters’ and I would like to give a big thank you and recognition to our black sisters in the Trust who have committed themselves to the NHS, and show dedication every day in helping to keep our patients safe.
"We now have a very diverse workforce with staff from various ethnic backgrounds and I am proud that this is recognised and celebrated at the Trust – and I know that the Trust acknowledges that there is still more that can be done.
“In the recently published Public Sector Equality Duty report, it highlights that we have currently achieved racial parity in bands 2 to 6 and medical staff of having BAME representation at every band. The report also shows that we are close to achieving parity in bands 7, 8A and 8B, however, we still face barriers at bands 8C to Very Senior Manager and actions are in place to improve this.
“I am glad that we actions in place to tackle this barrier and that the Trust working hard to ensure we have representation of BAME staff in higher positions. This is the change that I hope to see improvements on in the coming years.
“Finally I would like to say that there are many powerful and inspirational black women in the Trust and history such as Mary Seacole, Rosa Parks, and Claudia Jones and I would encourage everyone to find out more about the work they have done to shape society.”
