A message from Rob Webster - standing together for fairness, compassion and inclusion

A year ago, many of you shared stories of the significant impact that the violent disorder occurring in towns and cities throughout our country had on you, your families and communities. Here in the Yorkshire region, we saw misinformation about what was happening in our communities married to real events. Many of these had Islamophobic and racist tropes. Our Partnership took a proactive stance in supporting all of you and standing together to address issues in our communities.

In recent weeks, we have again seen tension heighten as anti-migrant protesters demonstrate across the country outside hotels where people are staying as they seek asylum from persecution, conflict and threats abroad. This has created concerns of further disorder, with some residents advised not to leave their rooms and others reporting episodes of abuse and intimidating behaviour. This is a reminder of why our commitment to fairness, compassion and inclusion must remain at the forefront of all we do.

West Yorkshire has also been in the news – for all the wrong reasons – in the last few days. You may have seen the coverage in the mainstream media and on-line, including camera footage, of an incident in Halifax where an NHS colleague and her family were the target of racist abuse. Rightly the police are dealing with that incident.

At times like these, we need to be clear on what we believe in, built on the Nolan Principles of standards in public life. We are very proud to be a System of Sanctuary as a Health and Care Partnership. We recognise that people seeking sanctuary experience some of the most significant health inequalities, may have endured trauma and need holistic support.

At NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, we believe that everyone has the right to access high-quality, welcoming and safe healthcare services. This is true in every one of our communities. In this period, we want to reiterate our pledge to:

• continue to demonstrate a fundamental commitment to safeguard the rights of our migrant groups, reduce health inequalities and optimise their life chances
• value our diverse population and commit to meeting the needs of all of our communities
• continue meaningful engagement with our partners and stakeholders including health, local authorities and police and, most crucially, with people who have lived experience of seeking sanctuary
• provide guidance and support to staff and facilitate safe channels for reporting incidents, ensuring that organisations and individuals alike know where to turn to if needed. We will continue to ensure staff and volunteers have access to advice and support, including wellbeing guidance and training on managing challenging situations

We are already seeing progress in many of these areas. For example, the majority of West Yorkshire GP practices have now received Safe Surgery training, ensuring that people seeking sanctuary are not wrongly turned away when registering for primary care. We have also worked with partners, stakeholders and people with lived experience to better understand the barriers faced around accessing healthcare. This has led to improvements such as a dedicated dental service for people seeking sanctuary, an animated video demonstrating how the NHS works and better access to maternity care.

In February 2025, we launched Power of one, power of many – working together for equity and fairness - a clear and ambitious strategy to strengthen our work in tackling health inequalities and to further establish ourselves as an anti-racist health and care system. The strategy sets out how equity, fairness, diversity, inclusion and justice will remain central to NHS leadership and service delivery. It also provides us with a framework to be accountable, ensuring that the pledges we make are matched by measurable progress we can share with our communities.

We have a responsibility to ensure that we deliver safe and effective care to every community. And I mean every community – we work everywhere with everyone. In doing so, we are constituted to tackle health inequalities, manage unwarranted variations in care and deliver social and economic value from every penny we spend. As a System of Sanctuary, we ensure that all of our partner organisations and communities support this approach and stand together to make West Yorkshire safe, welcoming and fair for everyone.

Please also see our we stand together pages for more support for staff and allies affected by recent events.

Rob Webster CBE, Chief Executive Officer, NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board and Lead Chief Executive, West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership