In a lift at a London hospital, I noticed a member of staff wearing a badge I’d not seen before. The blue NHS logo was on a rectangular badge on a striped background. It reminded me of the NHS and HSE Rainbow badges to promote LBGTQIA+ inclusivity in healthcare environments.
My hospital visit that day was personal rather than professional but I knew that the badge was signalling something important. Back at work, I found it: See ME First – the result of an idea of Beverleigh Senior, Delia Mills and Paul Attwal at Whittington Health NHS Trust. Between them, they have 60 years experience across various roles and have seen and experienced the best and worst of working in the NHS.
In 2018, their healthcare trust’s independent review found evidence of discrimination and inequality to be at the root of bullying and harassment based on a person’s ethnicity. The report reiterated previous findings from staff surveys and earlier research.
Reflecting on the events of 2020, Beverleigh, Delia and Paul wanted to create a symbol to show their colleagues that they were someone anyone could talk to about inclusion and diversity. At first, it was just for the three of them; it soon grew into something for their whole NHS Trust.
See ME First is based on the ideology from Martin Luther King Junior’s 1963 ‘I have a dream’ speech ‘that people will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.’ They designed a badge with six colours which aim to represent differing levels of melatonin in skin tones.
But it is not just about a badge: it is also about making a pledge to be committed to diversity, equality and inclusion in their workplace, to drive change and make space for open conversations to happen. Each person’s reasons for making a pledge and what they commit to is different but they are brought together by the desire to make change. The 10 key principles of See ME First are to: listen, speak up, support, challenge, seek support of allies, teach, including, influence, impact and promote.
Listen to Beverleigh, Delia and Paul and hear about how their work is changing their workplace.
See ME First launched in October 2020 during Black History Month: within a month, 500 people at Whittington NHS Trust had made their pledge. That number continues to grow. 40 other NHS organisations have adopted the initiative. A toolkit is provided to help staff launch the initiative at their own NHS Trusts.
See ME First has won several awards acknowledging not only the scheme’s creation but the impact it has across the NHS. Teams have found that staff who are included and listened to can lead to improved patient outcomes and better experiences for everyone who delivers and uses their services.
I had the privilege and honour to meet Beverleigh and Delia who donated See ME First badges to the Science Museum Group Collection.
It is rare for me to meet the people behind the idea and talk to them about their experiences. Their visit was an incredible moment for me and a culmination of a year of emails.
Talking with them cemented my huge respect for the work of Beverleigh and Delia in their roles in the NHS and their creation of an initiative I now see in most hospitals I visit. They said that badge not only creates a sense of belonging but helps staff demonstrate ’I belong to an organisation whose values value me.’ This is a vital topic to keep at the top of any agenda.
See ME First shows that three people’s idea and their determination to make it a reality can, and continues to, make a difference. It reminded me that we all have the power to create change and show up for each other, seeing everyone for the individual that they are.
In the words of See ME First, we are #strongertogether.