Primary Eyecare Services CEO Recognised in 75@75 GEMS Leadership List

3 January 2024

The Seacole Group – a national network for ethnic minority NEDs and chairs – in conjunction with  Colourful Healthcare – known for organising the annual National BAME Health and Care Awards – launched a new 75@75 Leaders’ List at the end of last year to honour individuals who have demonstrated outstanding contributions to their patients, communities and broader diversity and inclusion agendas.

Marking the recent NHS 75th anniversary, the new scheme seeks to acknowledge the influential and impactful leadership exhibited by 75 ‘Gifted Ethnic Minority Staff’ – known as ‘GEMS.’

Celebrating Diversity and Visionary Leadership

Primary Eyecare Services is proud to report that Chief Executive Officer, Dharmesh Patel, is among the 75 recipients of this prestigious commendation, which has just recently been announced.

Speaking about his award, Dharmesh said:

‘I am extremely proud to be standing alongside so many other individuals from diverse backgrounds and would like to take this opportunity to celebrate the collective contribution of all my fellow newly appointed leaders, all of whom are working with such vision and tenacity to reshape the future of healthcare.’

Significance of the 75@75 List: Leadership Acknowledgment for the Unseen Contributors

Commenting on the significance of the new 75@75 list, Dal Babu OBE, Chair of the Seacole Group, said:

‘We want to recognise the leaders doing great work but are often unseen in the sector.’

Echoing his sentiments, Wendy Olayiwola BEM – founder of the National BAME Health & Social Care Awards – emphasised the need to increase public and sector awareness of the people who are making the most visionary contributions to healthcare:

‘Staff from diverse racial backgrounds make significant contributions to the health and care workforce and many recent reports stress the importance of leaders and role models from minority communities in raising the aspirations and ambitions of staff who continue to be overlooked, yet under-represented, in the most senior roles in the sector.’

Valuable Insights from the NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard Report

The 75@75 leaders list comes at a crucial time, addressing the disparities highlighted in the latest NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard report which reveals that individuals from Black, Asian, and minority groups constitute almost a quarter of the overall workforce (24.2%). Some 42% of doctors, dentists, and consultants, as well as 29.2% of nurses, midwives and health visitors, are drawn from these backgrounds. Similar statistics are replicated across the adult social care sector.

Our Commitment to Racial Equality – Ongoing Initiatives

Primary Eyecare Services is working towards the Racial Equal Matters Trailblazer accreditation programme and will be proactively supporting Racial Equality Week again in 2024, having signed up for its Big Promise pledge in February 2023, which we will be updating for 2024.