Following our complaint about some offensive wording in a job advert for a clinical psychologist we are pleased to report that we have now received an apology and explanation from the Chief Executive Officer of this NHS trust
Dr Shepherd has agreed to a meeting with the CEO to discuss how this will not happen again
Response from the CEO at Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Trust dated 7 November 2023:
Thank you for your email Dr Shepherd
I apologise that you did not receive a response from the Trust back in September. I can confirm that the Trust immediately took the job advert down from NHS jobs and the wording was changed before re-advertising the position. However, I am informed that the original hyperlink remains on NHS Jobs and regrettably cannot be taken down, but I can confirm that any new post would have new wording within the job narrative.
The misunderstanding of our original wording comes from our job evaluation process in the NHS, for which we will send you a full letter of explanation in the next fortnight. Our wording was not specific to the ME population, rather the range of environments the public and our professionals can be exposed to as they go about their work. We wholeheartedly believe no discrimination intentionally took place. However, your interpretation is prompting us to sure up that language, ensuring no offence can be derived for any stakeholder.
It may be that looking at similar cases on your website that we could work jointly with your association creating a context specific wording that is acceptable to all, before sharing that jointly with the wider NHS as good practice.
I hope this can be the start of a conversation that can prevent further misunderstanding, not just with our Trust – but to other NHS organisations. I look forward to further conversations together.