Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust is this year’s only Trust with more than one colleague featuring in the top 10 of a prestigious list of influential BAME people in health.
Chief Nurse, Karen Bonner, and Associate Chief Nurse, May Parsons, have been recognised in the top ten of the Health Service Journal’s (HSJ) list of the 50 Black, Asian and minority ethnic figures who will exercise the most power and influence in the English NHS and health policy over the next year.
Karen Bonner is one of only a handful of Black, Asian and minority ethnic trust chief nurses in the NHS and has been attracting a great deal of attention for what has been described as her “tremendous leadership” and “inspirational talks”.
Karen Bonner said: “I feel honoured to be on the HSJ list, particularly as we celebrate 75 years since the arrival of the Empire Windrush. This resonates with me personally. It was the Windrush generation, my mother among them, who helped build and shape the NHS, and black and brown people continue to build on this legacy.”
In December 2020, May Parsons delivered the first covid vaccine to be given outside of a clinical trial. She is also the regional director for the Filipino Nurses Association and the judges described her as a “frontline member of staff with a high profile”.
May Parsons said: “I am humbled to be recognised by the HSJ in this way. I am passionate about representation, fairness and equality within the NHS. To me this simply means advocating for all our colleagues and patients with the compassion and kindness they deserve.”
Additionally, one of the Trust’s non-executive directors, Adrian Hayter, appears in the HSJ's 'bubbling under' list of BAME people in health to watch. A GP partner for more than 25 years, Dr Hayter has also been a part-time national clinical director. He is especially passionate about the care of older people and the need for collaboration.
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