As this book has shown, in its early days the NHS drew on the inspiration and commitment of heroines and heroes from the Caribbean. The current NHS also has its fair share of champions from the Caribbean and other parts of the world. What has changed is that while the early NHS was based on the principle of universal provision for all, the current NHS has a more explicit commitment to equality. A central principle of the NHS plan, published in 2000 as a blueprint for major investment and reform, is that the NHS of the 21st century must be responsive to the needs of different groups and individuals within society, and challenge discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, religion and sexual orientation.

This chapter identifies some of today’s champions – Cecile Day, Surinder Sharma, Carol Baxter, Barry Mussenden, John Batchelor, John James, Yvonne Coghill and Joyce Higgins – and their views of the modern-day NHS. They emphasise the NHS’s commitment to a service that is fair to patients and staff from all communities and they confirm that people from Caribbean and other minority ethnic backgrounds have, as in the past, an important role to play in today’s NHS.

It is fitting to begin with Cecile Day MBE. Cecile works in the Department of Health and is the chair of the department’s ethnic minority working group. Cecile has been the prime mover behind this book and project-managed it from

start to finish. In doing so, Cecile has demonstrated significant resolve and determination. For Cecile, this book is the story of a community, made up of many individual stories, of which only a few can be told here, that speak of all those from the Caribbean who contributed their lives, energy, passion and commitment to the NHS. “It is a story of determination, setting out to find a new life very different from the old one. It charts the difficulties and survival of those who share their memories here, which are not marked by

career success but continued endurance, fortitude and dignity. It is a story of the contribution made by those who made the journey and gave part of their lives to public service.” Cecile adds: “These people’s lives mirror that of the NHS, one of struggle and achievement, but most of all a dogged determination to make things better.” Out of the these stories comes an important message – all the contributions in the past have paved the way for contributions now from the children and grandchildren of these adventurous travellers. Cecile believes that “the NHS, like British society as a whole, has changed for the better. However, it still needs the kind of contribution that Caribbean and other minority ethnic communities made in the past. It is an institution which belongs to all the communities it serves and we need to ensure its success by securing the opportunities it offers.”
Cecile would particularly like to thank Sir Nigel Crisp, the former chief executive of the NHS and Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health for supporting her and championing the project.

Surinder Sharma is head of the Equality and Human Rights Group of the Department for Health and the national director for equality and human rights for the NHS. He was appointed in 2004; previously Surinder had worked on equality and diversity in a number of private and public organisations, including Ford Europe, the BBC and Littlewoods. Surinder says that it is vital for the Department of Health and the NHS to value the