Earlier this month, the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals (BSUH) Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) team welcomed Senior Midwife Maggie Myatt, who has joined on secondment for 12 months as the Race Equity Lead and EDI Associate.
Hear from Maggie about her journey to becoming the first BAME Band 7 Labour Ward Coordinator in the Trust and how her interest in advocacy first started. She also shares why she developed the REAL (Recognition, Equity, Advocacy and Leadership) strategy – a one year pilot program which promotes racial equality in healthcare employment and practice through recognition, equity, advocacy and leadership.
“I am of mixed heritage. Born in The Gambia to a Gambian mother and White British father, I moved to Brighton with my parents when I was five years old. From a young age I had a keen interest in healthcare and pregnancy, and so it was natural that midwifery would be the right career choice for me.
“It was through my role as a practising midwife that I was fully able to appreciate the importance of advocacy and using my voice to support people who may not necessarily have a voice or be able to represent themselves in a medical/ healthcare environment.
“As a woman of colour I wanted to use my role and my platform to highlight contemporary issues around BAME healthcare issues and work within the NHS.
“My professional practice allowed me to marry the two interests and create the REAL Strategy to address the key issues from the Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) findings with real time clinical issues.
“It has been the greatest professional honour having my work behind the REAL Strategy recognised by BSUH, the Executive Board and the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team.
“It is my hope that the REAL Strategy will perform as a platform to provide BAME Champions and Ambassadors, as well as individuals with support across targeted areas within the Trust. And when successful, this will be rolled out to the wider organisation.”
Follow Maggie’s progress through the official REAL Instagram page.
