UHCW NHS Trust becomes first recipient of Michelle Cox RCN Foundation Anti-Racism Award
Anti-Racism Toolkit
The funding was used to undertake a project to develop five educational videos for the UHCW Anti-Racism Toolkit e-learning module, which have been embedded into Trust‑wide learning and are reshaping workplace culture.
The materials empower colleagues to recognise, challenge and report discrimination with confidence. Ayisatu's leadership has strengthened inclusion, improved staff wellbeing, and contributed to a safer and more supportive environment, ultimately enhancing patient care.
As a result of her work, Ayisatu was awarded an Impact Award for outstanding contribution to anti‑racism initiatives through innovative learning resources.
Anti-Racism Shared Decision-Making Council, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, said: “As the Anti-Racism Shared Decision-Making Council, we are deeply honoured and delighted to receive this award. We feel that this is a fantastic opportunity that will help us to highlight our passion and commitment to creating an inclusive work environment, and we are pleased to know the RCN Foundation also shares and values addressing racism. With the grant, we want to create five anti-racism educational videos and integrate them into an Anti-Racism E-learning module.
By having these anti-racism resources available for the staff, we want to help raise awareness of racism, the knowledge and confidence of staff in using the Anti-Racism Toolkit as well as to empower staff to have those uncomfortable conversations around racism. We are hoping that this project will support the decrease of racism incidents, increase staff’s cultural awareness, and help create an inclusive workplace where diversity is desirable and celebrated. "
Michelle Cox said: “By working with the RCN Foundation, I believe there is a real opportunity to expose great practice and to share these models. There are very few awards specifically for anti-racism and unfortunately, this work is often uncelebrated.
There are so many NHS staff, including nurses and midwives, doing incredible work on the anti-racism agenda but, it is often done in silos and struggles to be sustainable or replicated beyond their current team. I am thrilled that the project currently being undertaken at UHCW will not only tackle racism, but also seeks to improve staff well-being, engagement, and retention, as well as decreasing sickness rates related to racism. This project has scope to have a much wider reach than just UHCW and the potential to be rolled out across the NHS and healthcare sector.”