South Asian Heritage Month (17 July – 18 August) is an opportunity to acknowledge and thank our colleagues who have family roots and connections across South Asia. We are fortunate to work in an organisation with such a richly diverse workforce, with people from different cultures, different faiths and different communities who all play a fundamental role at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust and within our wider NHS.

South Asian colleagues represent a significant proportion of our organisation, and across the wider UK and have helped shaped the NHS over many years; in fact, I am one of those. We also have trainees and students of South Asian heritage who will be a part of the future of our NHS and play a fundamental role in driving forward our nation’s history and development. As an organisation, we pride ourselves in striving to create a supportive and inclusive environment for all. Embracing cultural identity is key to building upon our values and understanding more about the diversity across our workforce and within our communities.

South Asian Heritage Month offers an opportunity to reflect and celebrate our rich history and culture shared by many of our colleagues. It is also important to highlight the cultural influences which extend to all areas of British society – from the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and the music we listen to, just to name a few. It is important we share our experiences, talk about our history and heritage, and learn from one another.

Diversity within our organisation is certainly something to be proud of and months like these offer a prime opportunity to celebrate, commemorate and educate.

Dr Manjeet Shehmar
Chief Medical Officer