Celebrating Black History Month at Nottingham University Hospitals
October is Black History Month and at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) we are sharing stories from some of our staff members about what this month means to them.
At NUH, we want our hospitals to be great and inclusive places to work, where opportunities to develop and progress are open to all.
The theme for this year is ‘Saluting our Sisters’ – highlighting the crucial role Black women have played in shaping history, inspiring change and building communities’.
Clive Clarke – Director of Inclusion for NUH
Clive has been working at NUH for five months, with previous experience acting as a critical friend to us whilst working for the National Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) team with NHS England (NHSE). Clive also has more than 40 years’ experience working in health and social care, with his mother also spending time working in the NHS.
What does Black History Month mean to you?
I used to see Black History Month as a reminder of the negatives that have happened to my race. I’ve now turned that around and see it as a celebration of all the cultural, scientific, business and spiritual aspects that make up my community and culture.
Can you tell us about an inspirational woman in your life and an inspirational woman you work with / have worked with and why they had such an impact on you?
My inspiration is my mother, who worked in the NHS full time and bought up four kids single handed, and all the women of colour who have worked for the NHS and at times suffered so that I and those of colour can have a better life ….I thank them.
How do you think your role influences change and improvements for the black community?
As the Director of Inclusion, my role covers the whole workforce, patients and communities to ensure that inclusion, equity and fairness, are what we bases our behaviours and values on. As a Black man in that position I knowledge that I carry an extra layer of responsibility to represent my community and an example/hope to those who want to aspire.
Why did you want to get into a career in the NHS?
I initially joined the NHS to train as a nurse following career counselling from my mum as a 17 year old. The career counselling went somewhere along the lines of “you need to get a job!!!” I have been enjoying myself ever since.
My first stint in the NHS was in the early 80’s. I started as a support worker at an old Victorian asylum in the north of England, before starting my nurse training. I didn’t leave school wanting to be a nurse, but with career counselling from my mother, I moved into the NHS.
I trained as a nurse and, once qualified, took a post back in my home city of Sheffield. Here I worked on an acute psychiatric ward, however, within a year I decided to leave, having nursed too many of my school friends, and community members.
I took a post in social care and went to university to train as a social worker and then an approved social worker with the power to assess and detain.
I then started a formal leadership role, becoming a senior manager in local government, taking up my second stint in the NHS as a Director (in the North of England, which was unheard of). I worked as a deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Acting CEO, these are hard demanding jobs, aren’t they all in the NHS, but as I look different from most people in these roles, it carried an additional layer of responsibilities not only for myself, but I saw myself represent all people of colour and the communities which we serve. I left that role after 40 years and felt, free and liberated to move into the inclusion space, something I felt restricted in my previous roles.
Since my “retirement” circa three years ago, I have worked in two NHS regional offices and for NHSE, leading the team that produced the EDI improvement plan and the six High Impact Actions.
The chance to come and work for NUH as the Director of Inclusion was a tempting offer for a number of reasons:
- The ambitions outlined in the People First document
- Building on the on-going role as a critical friend with the Trust
- Being able to put the strategic work of developing a national plan into local bespoke implementation
- Opportunity to work with the new leadership
- And finally, to make real changes in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire for all of its citizens.
What do you love about your role?
I know it’s a cliché, but I like the people, the people I work with, the people who I come into contact with.
Five months into the job and I am still enjoying it. I know lots needs to be done, but I hold on to the reason why I came and still believe that they are true.