Health Management and Policy Alert

Strengthening NHS board diversity

NHS Confederation -
An independent taskforce asked to examine the diversity of healthcare leadership has said that NHS organisations can create a "sustainable pipeline" of senior leaders that properly reflect the diversity of their staff and communities by refreshing their processes for appointing chairs and non-executive directors (NEDs). The report, based on the feedback of taskforce members including NHS chairs, NEDs and chief executives, found that while there are pockets of innovation, the current NHS appointment process for NEDs would benefit from a standard, more transparent procedure.

• Report
• NHS Confederation - news

Mind the gap: a policy report on how people are disadvantaged by digital exclusion

Chesterfield Citizens Advice - 

The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed a devastating overlap between digital exclusion and social exclusion, social exclusion and poverty, and then in turn, poverty and health inequalities. This report acknowledges digitalisation brings both huge benefits for many but also great disadvantage for some and looks at the experiences of local people based on evidence brought to the attention of Chesterfield Citizens Advice workers. The report sets out measures to ensure that services are `fair by design`, that they are accessible for vulnerable people who cannot use digital and that suitable alternative provisions are always in place to meet their needs.

• Report

Ethnicity coding in English health service datasets

Nuffield Trust -

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted ethnic disparities in health care and outcomes in England, but data on the ethnicities of patients remains poor. This report (supported by the NHS Race and Health Observatory) looks at the quality and consistency of ethnicity coding within health datasets and calls on NHS England to provide new guidance for health service providers and GPs.

• Report
• Press release

VacciNation: exploring vaccine confidence with people from African, Bangladeshi, Caribbean and Pakistani backgrounds living in England

Healthwatch - 

This report, produced together with Traverse, explores vaccination confidence among people from African, Bangladeshi, Caribbean and Pakistani backgrounds living in the UK. Its research uncovered five ways to increase public confidence: allow for agency; independence of institutions; focus on transparency; localise the approach; and address ambiguity.

• Report
• Press release

Racism and discrimination: the experience of primary care professionals in the Humberside region

Humberside LMCs - 
This report highlights discrimination faced by staff and patients from ethnic minority backgrounds in general practice. It finds that respondents reported experiences of discrimination in a wide range of areas such as training, working patterns and complaints and it calls for a zero tolerance approach to tackle racism in all its forms. 

• Report
• Press release

Covid-19 and the female health and care workforce survey update

NHS Confederation - 
This report presents the findings of a survey commissioned by the network to find out how the impact of the pandemic on women working across health and care changed as the crisis progressed. It finds that since summer 2020, the impact of the pandemic on the female workforce has demonstrably worsened and more women are reporting an even greater negative impact on their physical and emotional wellbeing.

• Report
• Press release

Women's Health Strategy: call for evidence

Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) -

The DHSC is seeking views to help inform the development of the government’s Women’s Health Strategy. This call for evidence will run for a period of twelve weeks and is open to everyone aged 16 and over. The easiest way to participate in the call for evidence as an individual is by completing the public survey. Submissions are also sought from individuals or organisations who have expertise in women’s health, such as researchers and third-sector organisations. This consultation closes at 11:45pm on 30 May 2021.

• Call for evidence
• More detail

Black, Asian and minority ethnic views on the Covid-19 vaccine

Healthwatch Camden - 

In February, Healthwatch Camden worked with three local community organisations to survey 223 people about their views on the Covid-19 vaccine and the local rollout. Nearly all responders (97 per cent) were from Black, Asian, or minority ethnic backgrounds. Amongst the findings were: the more knowledge someone felt they had about the vaccine, the greater the likelihood of them wanting to be vaccinated; people receive most of the information about the vaccine from television and social media; and younger people and people from Black or Black British backgrounds were less likely to get the vaccine, which is consistent with existing national evidence on this topic.

• Report
• More detail

Unequal impact? coronavirus, disability and access to services: Government response to the Committee’s fourth report

House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee -
The Committee published the original report in December 2020 and this is the Government response. It replies to the recommendations on food accessibility, the Public Sector Equality Duty, the impacts on health and social care and education among others. It also outlines plans for the National Strategy for Disabled Strategy, to be published in spring 2021.

• Report
• Women and Equalities Committee - press release

Crisis, communities, change: demands for an equitable recovery

Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) - 

This report explores how communities have fared during the pandemic. The survey of 2,600 people in Great Britain, including a weighted sample of 1,000 people from ethnic minority backgrounds, was carried out by Savanta ComRes for the RSA. Amongst the findings was that discrimination in local services was twice as high among ethnic minorities: 52 per cent of Asian and 50 per cent of Black respondents have faced discrimination when accessing local services – compared to 19 per cent of the white population. The data suggests that institutional distrust because of discrimination may play a role in vaccine hesitancy.

• Report
• Press release