Here at LSCFT we recognise the power of language and the influence that is has on creating a true sense of belonging for our colleagues, communities and service users.
Race
Throughout this report you will see the use of phrases such as Ethnic Minorities; BME; B.A.M.E when we are referring to certain communities aligned to race. As a trust we are very conscious that different ethnicities do have very different identities, experiences and cultural needs. It is also important that we recognise that grouping ethnicities isn’t always helpful when we are looking at how to drive change.
That is why in this report we do directly address any ethnicities, cultures or backgrounds we are referring to directly. However, following national NHS and government guidelines there is sometimes a need to refer to race as a group and for this reason, when nationally required, we do use the term BME. This does differ to the term that we have agreed to use as a trust which is B.A.M.E when referring to race as a group. This was chosen as despite the need to group in some methods of reporting we are still identifying that each letter is unique and represents different groups of people or communities.
Disability
We recognise that when we are talking about the Disability agenda we recognise that different individuals do differ with preference of terminology and the emotional impact that this can have on individuals. As a trust we follow the terminology in national reporting which refers to groups as disabled or non-disabled.