Health Management and Policy Alert

Patient and carer race equality framework

NHS England - 
This document outlines the participatory approach to anti-racism that mental health trusts and mental health providers should take to improve experiences of care for racialised and ethnically and culturally diverse communities.

• Guidance

Ethnic inequalities in Improving Access to Talking Therapies (IAPT)

NHS Race and Health Observatory - 
This review of ten years of anonymised patient data has found that historically, people from Black and minoritised ethnic backgrounds have experienced poorer access to, and outcomes from, NHS talking therapies. It finds that poor outcomes can be tackled and even disappear when access is improved and culturally sensitive therapy is provided.

• Report
• Press release

Closing the gap: a guide to addressing racial discrimination in disciplinaries

NHS Providers - 

Despite annual measurement and reporting on this metric since 2015, the disciplinary gap in the NHS persists, with ethnic minority staff being disproportionately likely to enter formal disciplinary processes compared to their white counterparts. This guide, produced in collaboration in collaboration with the healthcare law firm Hempsons aims to support board members to have an increased awareness and understanding of the existing disparity and provides practical advice and examples of how the gap can be reduced.

• Guide
• Press release

A constant battle: exploring the intergenerational consequences of racism in the UK

Centre for Mental Health (CMH) - 

This briefing finds that racism has far-reaching impacts on parents, their children, and the relationships between them. Based on research between the CMH and King’s College London with both parents and teenagers from UK racialised communities, it finds that both past and present experiences of racism can affect mental health across generations of a family. The briefing calls on the government to commit to tackling all forms of racism through a cross-government strategy. It also says that the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England should fully resource work with racialised communities to design more racially equitable mental health support.

• Report
• Press release

Pharmacy Workforce Race Equality Standard report

NHS England -
This standard sets out to improve equality, diversity and inclusion in pharmacy teams in the NHS. This report provides the first national overview of the varied experiences that registered pharmacy professionals and wider team members in NHS trusts face.

• Report
• NHS England - publications

Inclusive digital healthcare: a framework for NHS action on digital inclusion

NHS England -
This document builds on previous NHS Digital guidance on digital inclusion for health and social care. It should be used to help design and implement inclusive digital approaches and technologies, which are complementary to non-digital services and support.

• Framework
• NHS England - publications

Workforce Disability Equality Standard 2022 data analysis report for NHS trusts and foundation trusts

NHS England -
This report provides an overview of the NHS Workforce Disability Equality Standard metrics data analysis and an update on NHS England’s work to advance workplace disability equality. It is for trust board members, people professionals, disabled staff, equality leads and others who are interested in improving the working and career experiences of disabled people.

• Report
• NHS England - publications

REACH-OUT: Caring for the healthcare workforce post Covid-19: a longitudinal mixed-methods study of post-Covid-19 outcomes in healthcare workers from diverse ethnicities: 2nd report August 2023

NHS Race & Health Observatory - 

REACH-OUT is a long-term study that examines the lasting impacts of Covid-19 on healthcare workers (HCWS) from diverse ethnic backgrounds in the UK. By interviewing the same cohort of people over several years, the study aims to estimate the prevalence of long COVID on healthcare workers, and understand its impact on their health, their work, and their life more generally. Every six months, an update report will be released to highlight progress and identify any emerging learning for the healthcare system. This latest report – the 2nd update – includes an exploration of global research about long COVID and outlines some implications for health and care policy.

• Report
• More detail

 

 

 

We deserve better: ethnic minorities with a learning disability and access to healthcare

NHS Race & Health Observatory -
This five part review examines two decades of research looking into discriminatory barriers preventing equitable health care treatment. It finds that people with a learning disability from Black, South Asian (Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi heritage) and minority ethnic backgrounds face shorter life expectancy triggered by poorer health care access, experience and outcomes. It also captures the lack of reasonable adjustments and failure to recognise individual needs. Other obstacles identified include language barriers, cultural and religious insensitivity, a lack of information in easy read format, and a lack of information during transitional care in hospital and home.

• Read the reports
• NHS Race & Health Observatory - news

Building equitable primary care: a toolkit for practitioners and decision makers

Queen Mary University of London - 

The findings of two academic projects – EQUALISE and FAIRSTEPS – have been brought together to produce a toolkit for addressing unequal access to primary care. It describes what equitable primary care looks like, and provides practical steps to help local decision makers address inequalities in health and healthcare.

• Toolkit
• More detail