The recruitment of the new members was led by the ARC’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) working group and is also a practical consequence of the ARC’s new Involvement Strategy, which was co-produced with over 100 local people from a wide range of backgrounds.

The ARC’s aim is to work with groups across the nine protected characteristics covered by the Equality Act 2010: age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity. However, we recognise that population health outcomes are much worse for some groups of people – for example, people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups and people with disabilities. Therefore, the ARC initially prioritised increasing involvement from these groups.

The new members are:

  • Abigail Mensah, Ladies in Waiting Community Interest Group (Board amd Exec)
  • Beverley Randall, Mosaic Clubhouse community group (Board and Exec)
  • Hameed Khan, Involvement Advisory Group chair (Board and Exec)
  • Josephine Ocloo, equity, diversity and inclusion lead, ARC South London and senior researcher, King’s College London (Board and Exec)
  • Mariana Pinto da Costa, consultant psychiatrist, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (Board and Exec)
  • Rashmi Kumar, Involvement Advisory Group member (Board and Exec)
  • Sabrina Bajwah, palliative consultant and clinical senior lecturer, King’s College  London (Exec)
  • Toslima Khatun, researcher, King’s College London. (Exec)

 

I am passionate about equality, diversity and inclusion in research and practice. I joined the ARC South London Board because I wanted to influence at a strategic level, ensuring equality, diversity and inclusion is an integral part of ARC work.

Hameed Khan

Hameed Khan, Involvement Advisory Group chair

We are fortunate to have the NHS and I believe everyone is entitled to a quality service while in hospital. Being a part of this research will promote change and tackle inequalities which we know exist. The pandemic highlighted the need for change.

Beverley Randall

Beverley Randall, programme manager at Mosaic Clubhouse

We believe these positions offer an important opportunity to increase experience in senior decision-making structures and provide an opportunity to help improve the lives and the quality of health and social care in south London through applied research.

Dr Josephine Ocloo, ARC South London’s equity, diversity and inclusion lead

The new members were recruited through a short application and approval process based on their experience, interests and leadership potential.

Read the full Executive member list

Read the full Board member list