London Ambulance lagging behind on diversity and must improve, bosses warned

The London Ambulance Service (LAS) failing on diversity and must implement specific targets for improvements, its leadership has been warned.

According to LAS data, just 20% of the workforce is from a Black, Asian or from a minority ethnic background despite almost half of the capital’s population (46.2%) being made up of non-white communities.

Of that 20%, 40.9% are in the lowest paid roles, compared to 15.9% who are in the highest wage bands, according to the LAS’ Integrated Performance report.

The LAS is in the process of developing a new strategy to help attract more diverse staff, which will be published early next year.

Research shows that ethnic minority groups suffer disproportionately higher levels of inadequate ambulance care due to a combination of issues such as a lack of cultural awareness among professionals, language and communication difficulties and a limited understanding of how the healthcare system operates for some minority groups.

Read full story

Source: The Independent, 21 February 2023