“To tell you the truth I’m tired”: a qualitative exploration of the experiences of ethnically diverse NHS staff

Objectives The aim of this paper was to explore the experiences and support needs of ethnically diverse healthcare staff and how they were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Design A qualitative study using focus groups conducted remotely on Microsoft Teams. Setting The study took place across 10 National Health Service Trusts in England; 5 were Acute Hospitals Trusts and 5 were Community and Mental Health Trusts. Participants 55 participants across 16 focus groups took part in the study. Participants were all healthcare staff members from ethnically diverse backgrounds. Results Seven themes were generated which highlighted issues of negative experiences of discrimination at work, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, including participants often finding line managers unsupportive, appearing to lack care and compassion, and not understanding ethnic diversity issues. Participants identified many reasons for finding it difficult to speak up when faced with such experiences, such as feeling unsafe to do so, or feeling too exhausted to keep speaking up. Other staff had more positive experiences and described supportive interventions, and despite workplace difficulties, many participants discussed remaining motivated to work in the National Health Service. Conclusions Negative day-to-day experiences of ethnically diverse healthcare staff, and the difficulty of speaking up about these align with other, international literature on this topic. Progress in the area of staff equality is vital if healthcare organisations are to continue to provide high-quality patient care and retain skilled, compassionate staff who value their place of work. Recent literature suggests that many initiatives to reduce inequalities have not been successful, and there is a call for fundamental, cultural-level change. Future research is needed to understand how best to implement these organisational-level changes and to evaluate their effectiveness

A European true and fair view?

After a brief historical introduction, the paper examines the true and fair view (TFV) requirement in the Fourth Directive, and in the corresponding company legislation in UK, France and Germany. Differences and nuances are explored from a language and translation viewpoint and also related to pre-Fourth Direc tive requirements and culture. The extent of true harmonization is questionable. Recent experience and usage of TFV in the UK is critically described and related to the broader European context. The general drift of the argument is that countries are tending to interpret TFV in the context of national culture, national accounting tradition and national GAAP. From a properly European perspective there is a need for changes in attitude from all concerned. TFV and GAAP are living and dynamic concepts. They are affected by the cultures within which they are used. Homogeneous attitudes to such concepts imply homogeneous cultural contexts, and this raises questions of a most fundamental nature.

True and fair in the Czech Republic: a note on local perceptions

With the collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia', and the subsequent desire of Czechoslovakia to join the European Union, in common with other countries in Central Europe, Czechoslovakia utilized the Fourth Directive as a 'toolkit' in designing part of its new accounting legislation. In incorporating the Fourth Directive, it has also included the requirement for financial statements to show a 'true and fair' view. Given the confusion over the exact meaning of 'true and fair' it is interesting to study how 'true and fair' has been introduced into the Czech Republic, and what it seems to signify for those who implemented it and for those who are preparing and using financial statements. Our initial findings indicate that 'true and fair' varies in its significance for the groups of individuals involved in preparing and using financial statements and that it may have particular significance for some groups of accountants who wish to secure specific advantage within the Czech economy.With the collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia', and the subsequent desire of Czechoslovakia to join the European Union, in common with other countries in Central Europe, Czechoslovakia utilized the Fourth Directive as a 'toolkit' in designing part of its new accounting legislation. In incorporating the Fourth Directive, it has also included the requirement for financial statements to show a 'true and fair' view. Given the confusion over the exact meaning of 'true and fair' it is interesting to study how 'true and fair' has been introduced into the Czech Republic, and what it seems to signify for those who implemented it and for those who are preparing and using financial statements. Our initial findings indicate that 'true and fair' varies in its significance for the groups of individuals involved in preparing and using financial statements and that it may have particular significance for some groups of accountants who wish to secure specific advantage within the Czech economy.With the collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia', and the subsequent desire of Czechoslovakia to join the European Union, in common with other countries in Central Europe, Czechoslovakia utilized the Fourth Directive as a 'toolkit' in designing part of its new accounting legislation. In incorporating the Fourth Directive, it has also included the requirement for financial statements to show a 'true and fair' view. Given the confusion over the exact meaning of 'true and fair' it is interesting to study how 'true and fair' has been introduced into the Czech Republic, and what it seems to signify for those who implemented it and for those who are preparing and using financial statements. Our initial findings indicate that 'true and fair' varies in its significance for the groups of individuals involved in preparing and using financial statements and that it may have particular significance for some groups of accountants who wish to secure specific advantage within the Czech economy.With the collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia', and the subsequent desire of Czechoslovakia to join the European Union, in common with other countries in Central Europe, Czechoslovakia utilized the Fourth Directive as a 'toolkit' in designing part of its new accounting legislation. In incorporating the Fourth Directive, it has also included the requirement for financial statements to show a 'true and fair' view. Given the confusion over the exact meaning of 'true and fair' it is interesting to study how 'true and fair' has been introduced into the Czech Republic, and what it seems to signify for those who implemented it and for those who are preparing and using financial statements. Our initial findings indicate that 'true and fair' varies in its significance for the groups of individuals involved in preparing and using financial statements and that it may have particular significance for some groups of accountants who wish to secure specific advantage within the Czech economy.

Introduction: the true and fair view in British accounting

This article sets out to provide a framework against which to evaluate the true and fair view. It poses the question as to what the true and fair view might mean, and what significance it has. It analyses what the term means in the British accounting literature, how the meaning of such a term arises and how it may be transferred to other countries. It then considers what is the significance of the term in the political arena.1