‘Sometimes the feeling of being treated differently isn’t obvious, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there’

By Vita Martin-Achong, Family Partnership Programme Manager and Safeguarding Lead at KCHFT.

There are moments at work that lead you to think twice about the way someone is treating you. Is this to do with race? Is it my colour? My accent? Sometimes the feeling of being treated differently isn’t obvious, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

I moved here from Trinidad and Tobago in 1988, to further my career – and I certainly did that. Starting off in midwifery and moving to health visiting in the early noughties, I then worked as a practice teacher, coordinator and education lead. By 2020 I’d completed a BSc in specialist community public health nursing and a Master’s degree in public health. I then became family partnership programme manager and safeguarding lead.

My background has never held me back at KCHFT, in fact I’ve been offered every possible opportunity going.

Joining KCHFT’s Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) Network has offered me inspiration, but also perspective. Network members are a source of inspiration. They’ve also given me the confidence to start thinking about how I am treated and whether it is always right. Fellow members have been some of my biggest role models and sources of support.

For me, moments of prejudice could pass over me like water off a duck’s back. When I sit on the network, listening to others, it has given me more of a collective sense of duty. It’s also made me reflect on my ‘niggling’ feelings of being treated differently and see maybe they are valid.

For example, in meetings, I sometimes feel a shift in someone’s demeanour when they speak to me. These kinds of experiences, though seemingly small, can add up to feeling disheartened.

I’ve never used our Freedom to Speak Up service, to raise any concerns we have, but it’s something I would consider. For me, things that have happened to me are quite subtle and hard to articulate at times. Work pressures also mean I don’t always feel I have the time to do something like this.

I do believe that KCHFT is a big part of my success story but there is still a long way to go for the culture of acceptance to filter through our workplace.