Episode 3 – Equity, Diversity and Inclusion with Dr Patrick Highton

Equality means treating everyone the same. Equity means recognising that people start from different places and face different barriers. That distinction sits at the heart of this episode.

In the third episode of Difficult Conversations, Dr Kike Ladipo and Dr Gez Williams talk to Dr Patrick Highton, an NIHR Advanced Research Fellow at the University of Leicester whose research looks at hypertension and health inequalities in ethnically diverse populations. Patrick explains how joining the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration East Midlands changed the way he thought about who benefits from research, why EDI is facing more organised opposition, and why the claim that it lowers standards gets things the wrong way round. With universities under financial pressure, he also argues that the real question is the cost of not investing in EDI.

Patrick points to mentoring as one of the most effective ways forward, along with teams where people feel safe to say when a policy is creating inequalities. If you’ve ever wondered whether your EDI efforts are making a difference, and how you’d know, this conversation is a good place to start.

Listen to the episode

About our guest

Dr Patrick Highton is an NIHR Advanced Research Fellow in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the University of Leicester, working within the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration East Midlands and the Leicester Diabetes Centre. His research focuses on hypertension, health inequalities, medication adherence, and multiple long-term conditions, particularly in underserved and ethnically diverse populations. Through interdisciplinary and patient-centred research, he aims to improve healthcare equity and develop interventions that enhance long-term health outcomes.

Useful links and resources

Timecodes

00:00 Welcome and introducing Dr Patrick Highton
01:48 How Patrick became interested in EDI
03:09 Equity or equality? Getting the terminology right
05:31 Why EDI can be a difficult conversation
06:27 What EDI means in UK higher education, and common misconceptions
09:24 Why EDI is under growing scrutiny
11:36 Making the case for EDI when budgets are tight
13:03 EDI initiatives that have made a real difference
14:44 Where institutions get it wrong
16:21 Where we could go further
17:54 Practical priorities for the next five years
19:26 The one message to take away
20:49 What gives Patrick hope
22:41 Closing reflections from Kike
24:30 Credits

Difficult Conversations is hosted by Dr Kike Ladipo and Dr Gez Williams, and produced by Chaos Created for I-REACCH, a Wellcome-funded project at the University of Leicester.