Sharing her story next is 111 Head of Service Jackie Bell. Jackie has been part of the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) family since 2015, but her career in the ambulance service started over a decade before that. She said, “I joined West Yorkshire Ambulance Service (WYMAS) in 1997 as a direct entry paramedic. I was working as a physiotherapist at Leeds General Infirmary and my boss’s husband was a paramedic. On a night out I asked him if I could do a shift with him. Following my first shift shadowing I was hooked, and finally, after training to pass the fitness test, I joined WYMAS.”

For some of our LGBT+ staff, they were already ‘out’ when they joined the service. However, for Jackie, this was not the case. She told us, “I was not ‘out’ when I joined the ambulance service, as I had not, at that time, realised myself that I was gay – yes very naïve! I even had some boyfriends in the ambulance service in my first 18 months. I did, however, meet my first lesbian partner in the service, two years after joining. She had just separated from her husband and we tried to keep things under wraps for a while, but we were outed by a male colleague.”

Coming ‘out’ is a significant part of someone’s life and being able to choose how and when you do it should be up to you. Jackie has described how being outed affected her, “Being outed is a really difficult experience and leaves some damage, even today with regards to trust. I found out who my real friends were and valued them. I also found some new allies that I would probably have never crossed paths with had I not been outed in the manner it occurred.”

Jackie, reflecting on those early days and the reactions she received after being out, said, “Looking back, the attitudes of the older road staff were interesting. I kept asking myself was it because I was a direct entry paramedic, or female, or a lesbian? I experienced behaviours like my crew mate not getting in the back of the ambulance to help me with the patient, driving off when I was trying to cannulate, comments to make you feel uncomfortable when you walk in the mess room and nicknames. Some would say that this was my rite of passage into my “membership” within my ambulance station, I think I disagree! I was not alone in this “induction” however, the subject matter and level of bullying varied.”

After Jackie left WYMAS, she felt there were barriers within NWAS but they were different from the ones she faced at her previous trust. She explained, “I commenced with NWAS in 2015, and things had changed significantly from my days in WYMAS, and I had changed. I was in a civil partnership and was comfortable with my sexuality. I found more overt behaviours exhibited towards me for being a woman when I joined NWAS than being a lesbian. I was not on the road however, and in a leadership role so the situation was different. To a degree, I believe some barriers still do exist. The lack of senior role models for women, gay or straight, unconscious bias at all levels in the organisation and tokenism are all still issues. I feel that the LGBT+ Network has gone a long way to working within NWAS to educate and drive changes in behaviours and attitude, however, does this permeate throughout the organisation? Definitely not yet, but the network is making huge strides.”

When we asked Jackie what more can be done, she said, “The role of senior management in leading this change process can’t be over-emphasised. Where senior managers do not commit to the idea of creating a culture of respect and don’t take the necessary steps to change their own inappropriate behaviours, it won’t happen. Staff quickly become cynical when faced with statements that urge them to behave in ways they don’t see reflected in their managers’ behaviour on a day-to-day basis. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I) should be a core value of every senior appointment in NWAS, and equally as important as all other elements assessed; so demonstrable experience and evidence during the selection process, or no appointment.”