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Showing results for tags 'Discrimination'.
Found 175 results
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Content ArticleAccess to healthcare is a basic right, but refugees and people seeking asylum in the UK often face barriers to accessing health services. The Refugee Council has released this collection of guides and films for health professionals, decision-makers and NGOs to address health inequalities experienced by refugees and people seeking asylum.
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Content ArticleAli Raza uses the Swiss Cheese Model by James Reason to look at discrimination in the workplace.
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Content Article
CDC's Racism and Health website (8 April 2021)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Health inequalities
Rochelle P. Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), has declared racism a serious public health threat. Adding action to words, she highlighted several new efforts CDC is leading to accelerate its work to address racism as a fundamental driver of racial and ethnic health inequities in the United States. The CDC have unveiled a new website “Racism and Health” that will serve as a hub for the agency’s efforts and a catalyst for greater education and dialogue around these critical issues. -
Content ArticleThe Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) programme has now been collecting data on race inequality for five years, holding up a mirror to the service and revealing the disparities that exist for black and minority ethnic staff compared to their white colleagues. The findings of this report do not make for a comfortable read, and nor should they. The evidence from each WRES report over the years has shown that our black and minority ethnic staff members are less well represented at senior levels, have measurably worse day to day experiences of life in NHS organisations, and have more obstacles to progressing in their careers. The persistence of outcomes like these is not something that any of us should accept. It is in recognition of these realities that the People Plan 2020/21 has ‘belonging’ as one of its four pillars.
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Content Article
Sexism in medicine
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Staff safety
This report presents the findings from a survey conducted by the British Medical Association showing that women are disproportionately affected by sexism and gender bias. The report also acknowledges how institutional factors that accompany a medical career are still disadvantaging women. -
Content ArticleA doctor describes why they left clinical practice for the sake of their mental health and how healthcare organisations can create more supportive environments.
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Content ArticleThis review explores the experiences of international nurses recently recruited to the UK nursing workforce (1995–2007) and the implications for retention. Five main themes emerged from the review: motivation for migration, adapting to British nursing, experiences of first world healthcare, feeling devalued and deskilled, and vectors of racial discrimination. Although some positive experiences are described, significant numbers of nurses describe not feeling personally or professionally valued by the UK nursing establishment, common emotions expressed are disappointment and unmet expectations. This will have implications for job satisfaction and intention to leave or stay. If overseas nurses choose to leave the UK in large numbers, the health services could face a severe staffing shortage. It is important that we listen carefully to their experiences to help identify priorities for policy and practice aimed at improving job satisfaction for migrant nurses and articulating the value that they bring to UK nursing.
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Content ArticleFor surgical teams, high reliability and optimal performance depend on effective communication, mutual respect, and continuous situational awareness. Surgeons who model unprofessional behaviours may undermine a culture of safety, threaten teamwork, and thereby increase the risk for medical errors and surgical complications. This article in JAMA Surgery aimed to assess whether patients of surgeons with a higher number of coworker reports about unprofessional behaviour experience a higher rate of postoperative complications than patients whose surgeons have no such reports. The authors found that patients whose surgeons had a higher number of coworker reports had a significantly increased risk of surgical and medical complications. These findings suggest that organisations interested in ensuring optimal patient outcomes should focus on addressing surgeons whose behaviour toward other medical professionals may increase patients’ risk for adverse outcomes.
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Content ArticleA recent report found that a third of female surgeons have been sexually harassed at work. In this opinion piece, Dr Liz O’Riordan speaks out about the abuse she suffered from male colleagues while working for the NHS. She describes her experiences, highlighting that incidents of sexual harassment are common amongst female surgical trainees who fear speaking out as it may affect their careers. She also draws attention to the fact that it is not just an issue amongst surgeons, but that many other healthcare professionals experience inappropriate sexual comments and behaviour while at work.
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Content ArticleResearch published in the British Journal of Surgery demonstrates that sexual harassment and sexual assault are commonplace within the surgical workforce and rape happens. This report from the Working Party on Sexual Misconduct in Surgery is a call to action, with a series of recommendations, for healthcare institutions to face up to the shocking reality of sexual misconduct within their organisations. Further reading: Sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape by colleagues in the surgical workforce, and how women and men are living different realities: observational study using NHS population-derived weights Calling out the sexist and misogynist culture within healthcare: a blog by Dr Chelcie Jewitt, co-founder of the Surviving in Scrubs campaign GMC's Good medical practice 2024
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Content ArticleThis research examined sexual misconduct occurring in surgery in the UK, so that more informed and targeted actions can be taken to make healthcare safer for staff and patients. A survey assessed individuals’ experiences with being sexually harassed, sexually assaulted, and raped by work colleagues. Individuals were also asked whether they had seen this happen to others at work. Compared with men, women were much more likely to have seen sexual misconduct happening to others, and to have it happen to them. Individuals were also asked whether they thought healthcare-related organizations were handling issues of sexual misconduct adequately; most did not think they were. The General Medical Council (GMC) received the lowest evaluations. The results of this study have implications for all stakeholders, including patients. Sexual misconduct was commonly experienced by respondents, representing a serious issue for the profession. There is a widespread lack of faith in the UK organizations responsible for dealing with this issue. Those organizations have a duty to protect the workforce, and to protect patients. Further reading: Breaking the silence: Addressing sexual misconduct in healthcare Calling out the sexist and misogynist culture within healthcare: a blog by Dr Chelcie Jewitt, co-founder of the Surviving in Scrubs campaign GMC's Good medical practice 2024
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Content ArticleFrom endometriosis to heart attacks, this Guardian article look into the causes and symptoms, and explore gender disparities in quality of care
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Content ArticleThere is a well-established case for involving communities and people with lived experience in health and care policy, service design and delivery. NHS England guidance on working in partnership with communities highlights the financial benefits and improvements to quality and health outcomes that working with local communities brings. But could this involvement go further? In this article, Loreen Chikwira, Researcher at The King's Fund looks at the arguments for the use of intersectional approaches in understanding people’s lived experience of care in tackling ethnic health inequalities. These intersectional approaches help health and care providers shift their focus from people’s behaviours to also identifying and addressing ways of working that create and reinforce inequalities and poor experiences of care.
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Content ArticleIn this blog post, Diana Jones, an addiction treatment expert from Archstone Behavioral Health, addresses the topic of stigma and discrimination in addiction treatment. The post explores the importance of creating safe and inclusive environments for individuals seeking recovery. It offers practical strategies such as education, empathy, cultural sensitivity, bias recognition, and shared decision-making to promote positive change in addiction treatment practices. By challenging societal misconceptions and fostering compassionate care, healthcare professionals can help individuals overcome barriers and receive the support they need for successful recovery.
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Content Article
General Medical Council Ethical hub
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in General Medical Council (GMC)
Here you can find a collection of resources exploring how to apply GMC guidance in practice, focusing on areas doctors often ask about, or have said they find challenging. These pages will help you address important ethical issues and incorporate good practice into your work. -
Content ArticleThe Professional Standards Authority (PSA) commissioned this research to help inform a consistent and appropriate approach by the regulators and registers towards the various types of discrimination in health and care. The research was undertaken to help PSA understand better the views of the public and service users on the following key questions: What constitutes discriminatory behaviour in the context of health and care? What impact discriminatory behaviour may have on both public safety and confidence? Through looking at these two areas, the research also drew out views from participants on how health and care professional regulators should respond to different types of discriminatory behaviour.
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Content ArticleThis improvement plan sets out targeted actions to address the prejudice and discrimination – direct and indirect – that exists through behaviour, policies, practices and cultures against certain groups and individuals across the NHS workforce. It has been co-produced through engagement with staff networks and senior leaders.
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Content ArticleThe Women's Health Strategy for England was developed and published in 2022 in response to the growing recognition of the unique health needs and challenges faced by women in England (and the U.K.) and was brought forward to address longstanding gaps in women's healthcare and to promote better health outcomes for women across the country. This Forbes article looks at why women’s health should be included in every government’s agenda. The author speaks to Professor Dame Lesley Regan, Women's Health Ambassador for England about the progress of the strategy and Dr. Ranee Thakar, President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists about the need to ensure underrepresented groups are included in the strategy.
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Content ArticleThe latest NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) data shows that it is still over twenty times more likely that a White Band 5 nurse will become a Director of Nursing compared to a Band 5 BME nurse. In this letter Roger Kline, Research Fellow at Middlesex University Business School, outlines his concerns about discrimination and bullying taking place within the NHS. Addressed to Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Steve Barclay, the letter recalls the findings of the Messenger report commissioned by Mr Barclay's predecessor Sajid Javid, which found that “acceptance of discrimination, bullying, blame cultures and responsibility avoidance has almost become normalised in certain parts of the system, as evidenced by staff surveys and several publicised examples of poor practice." Referring to recent calls to reduce spending on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), he outlines why patient care and frontline services cannot be detached from efforts to improve EDI. He argues that research strongly suggests how staff are treated (including whether they face discrimination) impacts on patient care, staff well-being and organisational effectiveness.
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Content ArticleInstitutional racism within the United Kingdom's (UK) Higher Education (HE) sector, particularly nurse and midwifery education, has lacked empirical research, critical scrutiny, and serious discussion. This paper focuses on the racialised experiences of nurses and midwives during their education in UK universities, including their practice placements. It explores the emotional, physical, and psychological impacts of these experiences. The study concludes that the endemic culture of racism in nurse and midwifery education is a fundamental factor that must be recognised and called out. The study argues that universities and health care trusts need to be accountable for preparing all students to challenge racism and provide equitable learning opportunities that cover the objectives to meet the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) requirements to avoid significant experiences of exclusion and intimidation.
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Content ArticleThis guide aims to help health and social care workers provide dementia care, which corresponds to the needs and wishes of people from a wide range of ethnic groups, especially minority ethnic groups.
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Content ArticleWhen something goes wrong in health or care, patients need to understand their rights to complain and seek resolution. The Equality Advisory Support Service Helpline (EASS) supports individuals who wish to achieve an informal resolution when they feel they have experienced discrimination or want to understand their human rights. This article, written by the EASS for The Patients Association, explains an individual's rights under the Equality Act 2010 and what to do if you believe they’ve been violated.
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News ArticleThe system for assessing who should be asked to pay for NHS services “incentivises racial profiling”, an investigation has found. A study by the Institute for Public Policy Research found that overstretched NHS staff sometimes racially profile patients in order to determine who is not “ordinarily resident” in the UK, and therefore must pay for their care. The report is critical of the more stringent charging regime introduced by NHS England over the past decade as part of a series of measures devised to create a hostile environment for people living in the UK without the correct immigration status. Overseas visitors officers have been appointed by NHS trusts, responsible for identifying chargeable patients, as part of a cost recovery programme launched in 2014. One of the officers told the IPPR study they had felt forced to discriminate between patients based on their name. “If you’ve got a, I don’t know, Mohammed Khan and a Fred Cooper, you’re obviously going to go for [investigating] the Mohammed Khan … Even for someone who’s, you know, well I’d like to think hopefully open-minded, like myself, you’re just trying to save yourself time because there’s not enough hours in the day,” the officer said. A hospital employee also reported that discrimination on the basis of ethnicity was used to determine who should be billed for treatment. “It’s a system that is designed to benefit [white] people like me, not people like … the patient on intensive care who is black and British and was unconscious and sent a bill. So why did someone think he was not eligible for care? Given he was unconscious most of the admission, significantly unwell, probably not his accent, more likely his skin colour,” the health worker said. Under the rules, anyone “not ordinarily resident” in the UK should be charged 150% of the NHS national tariff for most secondary (non-urgent) healthcare, but the report found that processes varied across the country, with a lack of consistent training and widespread confusion over the 130-page rules for the charging system. Some healthcare staff told IPPR researchers that they disliked the extra burden of having to consider whether to refer a patient for charging, which they felt distracted them from their core medical responsibilities. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 23 November 2021
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News Article
After scandals like Winterbourne View, why is basic decency still remarkable?
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
In late July 2019, Sara Ryan tweeted asking families with autistic or learning disabled children to share their experience of “sparkling” actions by health and social care professionals. She was writing a book about how professionals could make a difference in the lives of children and their families. "These tweets generated a visceral feeling in me, in part because of the simplicity of the actions captured. Why would you not ring someone after a particularly difficult appointment to check on them? Isn’t remembering what children like and engaging with their interests an obvious way to generate good relationships? Telling a parent their child has been a pleasure to support is commonplace, surely?" Sara's own son, Connor, was left to drown in an NHS hospital bath while nearby staff finished an online Tesco order. "Certain people, children and adults, in our society are consistently and routinely positioned outside of 'being human', leading to an erasure of love, care and thought by social and healthcare professionals. They become disposable." What has become clear to Sara is how much the treatment of people and their families remains on a failing loop, despite extensive research, legislative and policy change to make their lives better, and potentially transformative moments like the exposure of the Winterbourne View scandal. At the heart of this loop are loving families and a diverse range of allies, surrounded by a large cast of bystanders who, instead of fresh eyes, have vision clouded by ignorance and sometimes prejudice. "To rehumanise society, we need more people with guts and integrity who are prepared to step up and call out poor practice, and to look afresh at how we could do things so much better with a focus on love and brilliance." Read full story Source: The Guardian, 27 October 2020 Sara Ryan's book: Love, learning disabilities and pockets of brilliance: How practitioners can make a difference to the lives of children, families and adults -
News Article
Trust in NHS ‘poor and diminishing’ among communities hit hardest by covid
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
There is growing distrust for the NHS and government in communities that are of fundamental importance to the national effort to counter covid, according to research by NHSX. People in so-called “hard to reach” communities are faced with stigma and racism due to the covid pandemic but have dwindling trust in the health service, the research found. They are worried about how their personal data will be used by the NHS and other state bodies. They are particularly concerned that their details will be passed on to the police or immigration services. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 20 October 2020
