The hope for a fair society ‘feels further away than ever’, said Steve Preddy, Unite the Union regional secretary, at the Annual Professional Conference last month.
Pointing to the most recent figures which show nearly three in 10 nurses are non-UK nationals he said: ‘The directed false rhetoric focuses on blame, on migrant workers, predominantly the wrong people and the wrong focus.’
‘Migrant workers are crucial to our community care. My personal hope is that eventually we transition to a society based on need, where fairness and equity form the fundamentals on which all services are assessed, funded, sourced and staff.
Steve also told delegates he hoped ‘that the true value of your skills, support and dedication are finally recognised in full’.
Obi Amadi, lead professional officer at Unite the Union, added: ‘We’ve made efforts to embed anti-racism in our professional programmes, introduced allyship and leadership into development sessions, and made sure the CPHVA voice is clear: Discrimination, bias and exclusion have no place in our professions.’
For more highlights from the Unite-CPHVA 2025 Annual Professional Conference in Bristol, look out for the upcoming January/February 2026 issue of Community Practitioner
Image | Unite-CPHVA
