BAME network

The BAME network supports in helping to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for staff patients and visitors from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.

The key aims of the network are to:

Ensure that career opportunities and experience of work are not predetermined by ethnicity, nationality and colour.
Provide a forum where BAME staff can share their experience and concerns affecting their work and professional development.
Encourage WSFT to maintain a safe and positive working environment for BAME staff.
Support WSFT to develop and maintain a representative workforce and inclusive leadership.
Raise the visibility and profile of the contribution that WSFT BAME staff members make.
Create a sense of community for BAME colleagues.

Contact

The chair of the network is Dr Ayush Sinha, you can contact him by emailing ayush.sinha@wsh.nhs.uk

Change to covid-19 swabbing for staff and family

Since the start of the pandemic, the NHS has built a significant testing operation that includes walk-in and drive through test sites and at home testing. It has also invested in large-scale laboratories that can process and analyse swabs at scale and speed.

As a result, from November 1 we are making some changes to our approach to in-house PCR testing.We will no longer routinely offer Covid-19 PCR tests for staff or their families with suspected symptoms, or who have been identified as potential contacts of someone with Covid away from work. Instead, staff should use their nearest NHS testing centre - you can book online or by calling 119.

We will no longer operate the current testing pods near the Emergency Department at West Suffolk Hospital. We will continue to swab and test patients, and we will also offer PCR tests to staff in the event of a suspected outbreak at work. These changes will help us focus on patient testing to help with capacity across our services, and will often mean faster turnaround for staff results by taking advantage of national laboratory capacity. Staff will also be able to more easily register their results in the NHS Covid App.