A further call for action: BAME Community Sector Leaders opportunity to contribute to the development of a BAME community sector Health Inequalities action plan for Southwark.
Our third “ Journey to better health outcomes for Southwark’s BAME community “event is on Thursday 18th of July and will build on the work so far begun with developing a BAME Health Inequalities action plan for Southwark. See background section below for the story so far.
If you are a BAME community sector leader involved with delivering health and social care services in Southwark we would like you to attend this event.
This event will be more like a workshop where you will be asked to continue and finish a 12-month BAME health inequalities action plan for Southwark. This plan will then be presented to decision makers from Southwark’s Public Health and Social care sector.
The BAME Community leaders and decision makers from Southwark’s Public Health and Social Care Sector will sit together around the same table to discuss and finalise the plan at a meeting to be held in October/November 2024
How BAME Community Sector Leaders can help make the Health Inequalities Plan successful.
You will need to come along with an open mind to this event for you to be able to fully contribute to a plan that has already started to be drafted. There is of course scope to have your ideas put forward to build on what has gone on before and to provide input into the rest of the plan.
The idea is for this to continue be another collaborative effort between BAME Community Sector leaders which will involve discussions with people who have attended all the events, people who have attended once and those who are first timers.
Please therefore come with a mindset to
- listen to what has gone on before
- understand what has been developed previously and to acknowledge the legitimacy of what has already been put together
- get ready to participate, share and record your ideas and thoughts on what can make the action plan successful.
- Commit yourself for the duration of the event which is 3 hours
- Recognise that you are getting involved in a groundbreaking initiative that its intention is to doing things differently, to challenge the status quo and dismantle systemic barriers and not to give up until we succeed.
Background – the story so far:
We have had two events so far November 2023 and in March 2024
“The Journey to better health outcomes for Southwark’s BAME community” is an initiative which has brought together leaders from the Black and Minority Ethnic Health and Social care Community sector, NHS, Southwark Council and the integrated health and care system to focus on improving health and wellbeing and reducing inequalities for people from the BAME community sector in Southwark.
We recognise that over the two meetings that different people have contributed to the conversations that have gone before which have developed several different asks of decision makers; prioritising of those asks and then starting to plot what needs to happen over a 12-month period to ensure that these asks are successful.
The process which has evolved so far is a typical example of what can happen using a co production process. Where how things move forward from one step to another can be a little messy but will eventually end up at a point where solutions of how we can bring health and social care services together that are based and addressing the needs of the BAME Community. This happens when you are trying to do things differently
The achievements of the events are as follows
- 6 BAME led community organisations present to with public sector Health and Social Care Decision Makers work they are carrying out in Southwark to address health inequality being experienced within their communities.
- Public Sector and NHS local health and social care providers make pledges to commit themselves to work with BAME leaders. See pledges and asks
- BAME Community Leaders present 8 Asks for action. See pledges and asks
- BAME Community leaders start to co-produce with public sector Health and Social Care Decision makers a 12-month action plan which shows how the asks will be delivered in practice.
