Health Management and Policy Alert

People with learning disabilities in England

Public Health England (PHE) - 
This report provides updates of national statistics about people with learning disabilities in England and the services and support available to them and their families.

• Report

Return to Practice Programme: evaluation of the Allied Health Professionals and Health Care Scientists Return to Practice Programme

Government Equalities Office -
Government Equalities Office funded the ‘Return to Practice’ programme to support Allied Health Professionals and Health Care Scientists who want to return to work. Delivered in partnership with Health Education England and Department for Health and Social Care, the programme operated between August 2017 and March 2019. This report details the evaluation of the programme.

• Report
• Government Equalities Office - publications

Fair to refer?: reducing disproportionality in fitness to practise concerns reported to the GMC

General Medical Council -
Employers and health care providers refer black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) doctors to the GMC at more than double the rate of their white counterparts. This means they have more chance of being investigated and, in turn, receiving a warning or sanction. This research finds that disproportionate referrals of BAME doctors to fitness to practise processes could be driven by poor induction and support, working patterns which leave them isolated and poor feedback by managers.

• Report
• General Medical Council - press release

Chairs and non-executives in the NHS: the need for diverse leadership

NHS Confederation -
This report examines the arrangements for the recruitment and appointment of chairs and non-executives within the NHS. As the report demonstrates, the progress and gains made in the early 2000s towards a more diverse board leadership in NHS trusts (including foundation trusts) has gone into reverse or made no progress. It finds that leaders, chairs and non-executive directors are often not representative of the communities they serve and the staff they govern.

• Report
• NHS Confederation - news

The prevalence and persistence of ethnic and racial harassment and its impact on health: a longitudinal analysis

Institute for Social and Economic Research - 
Around one in ten ethnic minorities in England has reported experiencing ethnic and racial harassment in a public place and almost double this number has reported feeling unsafe or avoiding public places, both of which are associated with poorer mental health, according to this report. It highlights the need to consider harassment and discrimination in the provision of mental health services.

• Report
• Press release

Workforce race equality standard: 2018 WRES data analysis report for eight national healthcare organisations

NHS England - 
This report presents two years of workforce race equality data and enables organisations to compare their performance with others providing similar services, with the aim of encouraging improvement by learning and sharing good practice.

• Report

Raising the equality flag: health inequalities among older LGBT people in the UK

International Longevity Centre UK -
This report highlights new findings from a recent project conducted by researchers at University College London, Cardiff University, and International Longevity Centre UK, funded by the Wellcome Trust, to explore the discrepancies in health outcomes experienced by older LGBT people. The research reveals that a lifetime of prejudice and stigma is leading to worse physical and mental health, poorer access to health and social care, as well as greater levels of social isolation and loneliness among older LGBT people.

• Report
• International Longevity Centre UK - publications

NHS Workforce Disability Equality Standard: technical guidance

NHS England -
The NHS Workforce Disability Equality Standard is designed to improve workplace experience and career opportunities for disabled people working, or seeking employment, in the NHS. Organisations will be encouraged to introduce new measures and practices which positively support disability equality in the workplace and further the involvement and engagement of disabled communities more widely in the work and aims of the NHS. This techncial guidance provides detailed information and guidance to support the Standard that will apply to all NHS Trusts and Foundation Trusts from 1 April 2019.

• Technical guidance
• NHS England - publications

No room at the inn: how easy is it for nomadic Gypsies and Travellers to access primary care?

Friends, Families and Travellers - 

This reports the findings of a mystery shopping exercise in which the charity contacted 50 GP practices posing as a patient wishing to register who didn’t have a fixed address or proof of identity. It found that almost half of practices would not register them. Despite this, every GP practice was rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission for their work with ‘People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable’.

• Report
• Press release

National LGBT survey 2017: healthcare amongst lesbian and bisexual women - research report

Government Equalities Office -
This report presents key findings on health care amongst different groups of lesbian and bisexual women who responded to the survey, looking in detail at disclosing sexual orientation to health care providers, accessing and using mental health services, sexual health services and gender identity services. The analysis uses multivariate models to control for socio-demographic characteristics such as age, education level, income and region.

• Report
• Government Equalities Office - publications