‘Cultural Safety’ in Genomic Practice Workshop

We organised an interactive workshop with healthcare professionals working in patient-facing roles, exploring ‘cultural safety’ in genomic medicine. We examined how clinical practice, data collection, communication, and workplace culture intersect to shape equitable and inclusive care. 

Cultural safety moves beyond competency frameworks by addressing power imbalances, systemic inequities, and the need for critical reflexivity in healthcare practice. It emphasises that safe care is shaped through an awareness of diverse needs and requires both individual and organisational accountability to reduce inequities. 

This workshop drew on emerging research into how ethnicity data is ascertained and used in genomics, alongside challenges such as working effectively with interpreters, and how communication shapes consent and trust. We also explored questions around belonging and agency at work – how comfortable people feel bringing their full selves into the workplace, whether they feel able to speak up about inequities, and what is needed to move from tokenistic representation to genuine diversity.