NHS Muslim Network – December 2021 Newsletter
Ahead of the new year, we aim to provide our members with a forward view on the upcoming events which will be posted on the event calendar .This will give you advanced notice of what’s happening in the first few months of 2022, and providing a chance for all of our members to get involved. The calendar will be regularly updated so don’t forget to bookmark the page and as we get closer to these events, and we will send you an updated reminder.
We have also published our Year in Review – 2020/21, which provides a high level overview of all of our activities, what we have learned and what our key objectives and priorities are for the following year.
Mental Health & Islamophobia
In November 2021, we hosted a Mental Health & Islamophobia webinar, highlighting the issues around mental health in the Muslim community and the causes, ranging from a lack of knowledge and understanding to stigma and shame.
Read more from Terunnum Shakeel, our Head of Health Inequalities who led the webinar with speakers like Ashraf Dabous, Deputy Imam at Lewisham Islamic Centre, Dr Hina Shahed, Chair of MDA, Shireen Ali Khan, Programme Manager, BCBN and Wazir Muhammad, Senior Programme Lead, Health & Wellbeing. The webinar covered a range of topics discussing the Islamic perspective of Mental Health, the effects of Islamophobia on Mental Health, how to support someone with Mental Health issues and recognising symptoms as well as faith-based Mental Health services and support that are available to community.
Our Head of Member Development @Ranya has also written her blog on what is Islamophobia, examples of religious microaggressions and a call to action for addressing these rising matters in the workplace.
During the winter months when the days are shorter, it is important than we all pay more attention to our wellbeing and saviour opportunities to prioritise our wellbeing and engage in worship. Whilst the NHS continue it’s efforts to tackle the challenges that the pandemic presents, we want to share with you the NHSE/I Winter Wellness pack which summarises the offers available, advice, resources and wellbeing packages that have been created for NHS staff. The wellness pack has been designed to help navigate through key topical areas in the upcoming months, which can be revisited at times that are convenient to you.
We would also like to draw your attention to the NHSE/I Health and Wellbeing page, where you will be able to access the full range of health and wellbeing offers along with this Winter Wellness pack (please note this is for NHSE/I staff).
In recent months, the NHS Muslim network have conducted a deep-dive analysis on Employment Staff Record (ESR) data. As part of the Data & Analytics and Member Development workstream, this analysis aims to provide evidence and insight into Muslim staff experience at NHSE/I. It covers statistics on staff characteristics (faith, gender, ethnicity, age), demographics, contract type (working patterns, permanent or fixed term), pay band and career progression. The evidence collected through the report has enabled the network to shape the 2021/2022 NHS Muslim Network priorities and outline a set of recommendations and actions to NHSE/I on how they can continue to improve diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
The report is currently it it’s final stages and being prepared to be shared with senior stakeholders across NHSE/I. The next steps will involve:
- Discussions with stakeholders on recommendations and action plan
- Further develop the networks Member development strategy
- Provide opportunities for feedback from our members
As part of the national programme for staff health and wellbeing, coaching is being made available to all BAME staff, regardless of grade. This is a one to one wellbeing coaching support offer, where you will be paired up to a trained coach.
All coaching sessions are free and confidential – details will never be shared with employers. All coaching sessions are available via phone or video call, seven days a week at a day and time that suits you.
The Better Community Business Network (BCBN) in collaboration with Mind in The City Hackney & Waltham Forest (CHWF) are working together to build a collaborative of faith-based and mental health service providers, community leaders and professionals that highlight, advocate and support the mental health and positive well-being of Muslim communities across the UK.
Shireen Ali-Khan who is the new Programme Manager leading on the Muslim Mind Collaborative and is looking forward to working with the NHS Muslim Network and their members on this journey in building a collective to support the mental health and well-being of Muslim communities across the UK. As we are nearing the end of the year, Shireen wanted to thank everyone who took their time to complete the Muslim Mind Survey and share some important preliminary findings. So far 36 organisations have taken part in our survey, and here are some of the preliminary findings:
Thursday 16 December 16.30 – 17.30
We are pleased to work with NHSE/I Christian Network and NHSE/I Jewish Network to host a multi-faith webinar for all NHS staff including social care staff. Our faith networks, with support from clinical leaders, will enable staff to explore the religious and clinical context of the COVID-19 vaccination. The agenda features:
- Welcome, introduction and vaccination update – Abdul Hamied, and Dr Jahangir Alom, NHSE&I Vaccination Programme
- The religious context featuring:
- NHS Christian Network, NHS Jewish Network, NHS Muslim Network,
- Faith panel Q&A
Fertility and pregnancy: reasons to be reassured – Mr Rehan Khan, Consultant Obstetrician in east London
Your support & donations
To mark the day the first person in England had her COVID-19 Vaccine, NHS England and Improvement is marking this one-year milestone with a social media thunderclap campaign.
To take part, simply film a short video / use a photo of you or a loved one having their COVID vaccine and post this on your social media channels (Twitter / YouTube / Facebook/ Instagram/ TikTok) using the *#OurCOVIDVaccine* (case sensitive). This movement will help more people of all ages from our communities to see that the vaccine is safe to take.
*Don’t have a photo or video?*
You can also like, share and retweet other posts with the #OurCOVIDVaccine and tag your organisations or groups to the posts to re-share. Your help and support with this is greatly appreciated as we continue to increase awareness, confidence and access to the vaccine for our underserved communities.
Trussell Trust supports over 1,200 food bank centres across the UK. Together, they provide emergency food and support to people locked in poverty, while also campaigning for change to end the need for food banks in the future. You can help fight hunger this winter. Your support can help the network of food banks reach more people with the emergency food and support to get through this winter. It can also help Trussell Trust campaign for policy changes that could eradicate hunger altogether.
As Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) is only partly funded by the NHS, it is facing a desperate need to raise funds, especially due to the challenges of the past year. It’s only thanks to the generosity of donors that GOSH has been able to support the care of seriously ill children, their families and the staff that look after them when they needed it most.
- Every day, 619 seriously ill children arrive at GOSH from all over the UK
- Every day, 30 children undergo life-changing operations at GOSH
- Every day, 931 potentially life-changing research studies are active at GOSH
How donations can make a difference:
- £1,078 could help fund a week’s research helping to find new treatments for a rare and life-threatening genetic disorder that causes three types of nerve tumour.
- £3,695 could help buy equipment that measures the pressure inside the eye, helping to identify patients at risk of a condition called glaucoma
£24,376 could help pay for an Anaesthetic Machine. These will ensure that anaesthetic care is delivered using state of the art technology that allows for optimal ventilation of patients
The NHS Muslim Network has been working hard to represent and support our members. To make sure that we are continuously improving the way we work and are able to keep making an impact on our communities, we need your support, experience and talent.
Join our team of volunteers today and meet new people, gain experience working on equality, diversity and inclusion projects start to finish, interact with senior stakeholders and make a real difference for our NHS Muslim communities.
We are currently looking for volunteers in the following projects:
- Upcoming events management – Interview workshops
- Muslim100 – Aim of the project is to raise awareness and help celebrate the 100 most Influential Muslims in the NHS.
- Developing guidance for our members – guidance for interviews and for recruiting managers
For further information please email england.muslim1@nhs.net.
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