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Showing results for tags 'Health Disparities'.
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Content Article
Global Drug Policy Index
Steve Turner posted an article in Data and insight
The Global Drug Policy Index provides a score and ranking for each country to show how much their drug policies and their implementation align with the UN principles of human rights, health and development. It offers an important accountability and evaluation mechanism in the field of drug policy. -
Content ArticleIn this blog, Dr Meghan Leaver, cofounder of PEP Health discusses factors that may prevent people living with obesity and overweight disease conditions from accessing high quality care. She argues that the current NHS focus on healthcare equality should extend to improving access and satisfaction amongst patients living with obesity. The author makes the case that the NHS is not weight inclusive, referring to a recent study in The Lancet that showed that people who identified as being overweight had significantly lower perceptions of the quality of care they were receiving compared with those who didn’t. She highlights that the issue disproportionately affects people from lower socio-economic backgrounds and calls for policy that empowers people to live healthier lifestyles.
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News ArticleSocioeconomic inequalities account for an estimated quarter of stillbirths, fifth of preterm births, and a third of births with fetal growth restriction, according to a study published in the Lancet of over one million births in England The nationwide study across England’s NHS was carried out by the National Maternity and Perinatal Audit team, who analysed birth records between April 2015 and March 2017 to quantify socioeconomic and ethnic inequalities in pregnancy outcomes. They found that an estimated two thirds (63.7%) of stillbirths and half (55.0%) of births with fetal growth restriction in black women from the most deprived neighbourhoods could be avoided if this population had the same risks as white women living in the most affluent 20% of neighbourhoods. Read full story (paywalled) Source: BMJ, 2 November 2021
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Content ArticleThis nationwide study of over 1 million births in the English NHS between 2015 and 2017, published in The Lancet, has found large inequalities in pregnancy outcomes between ethnic and socioeconomic groups in England. The findings from Jardine et al. suggest that current national programmes to make pregnancy safer, which focus on individual women's risk and behaviour and their antenatal care, will not be enough to improve outcomes for babies born in England. The authors say that to reduce disparities in birth outcomes at a national level, politicians, public health professionals, and healthcare providers must work together to address racism and discrimination and improve women's social circumstances, social support, and health throughout their lives.
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Content ArticleThis report by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) sets out practical ways in which decision-makers and system designers can use the skills offered by occupational therapy to ensure all patients get access to the support they need. Health equity is one of RCOT’s priorities for 2022 and this report looks at the role of occupational therapists in widening access to care in the following areas: Primary care Housing Children, young people, and families Community rehabilitation Community mental health Criminal justice system
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Content ArticleThis is the recording of a Royal College of Nursing (RCN) online event with actor David Harewood in conversation with mental health workers Simon Arday and Kojo Bonsu. Drawing on expertise from Black health care professionals and those with lived experience, the event explored what needs to be done to improve black people's experiences of mental health services. The event was chaired by Catherine Gamble RCN Fellow and Associate Director of Nursing Education South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust.
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Content ArticleMany prisoners still struggle to access hospital services despite their significant health care needs, and early data suggests the pandemic has worsened access further. This report by the Nuffield Trust considers new evidence relating to pre-existing health conditions before prison, the use of remote consultation, different ethnic groups' use of health services and the early impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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News ArticleGender bias is leaving many women with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder undiagnosed, leading psychologists are warning. The prevailing stereotype ADHD affects only "naughty boys" means at least tens of thousands in the UK, it is estimated, are unaware they have the condition and not receiving the help they need. "I used to tell doctors and therapists all the time, 'You've got to make this constant noise in my head stop. I can't think. I can't sleep. I can't get any peace,' but this was always dismissed as anxiety or women's problems," Hester says. Diagnosed with depression at 16, she spent much of her 20s unsuccessfully battling to be referred to a psychiatrist. And she constantly felt she was not reaching her true potential. Hester was finally diagnosed with ADHD in 2015, aged 34, and only, she says, because her husband had discovered he had the condition, a year earlier. His diagnosis took 12 months. "At no point did anyone say to Chris, 'This sounds like anxiety,' or 'Have some tablets,'" Hester says. "He was taken seriously." "Whereas with me, I was on the doctor's radar from the age of 16. "Bluntly, it took so long for me to be diagnosed because I'm a woman." Read full story Source: BBC News, 26 October 2021
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Content ArticleRacial and ethnic disparities in health and healthcare continue to be widespread. Research has repeatedly confirmed that members of racial and ethnic minority groups in the US are more likely to experience disparities in care, including having an increased risk of being uninsured or underinsured, lacking access to care, and experiencing worse health outcomes for treatable and preventable conditions. This brief from the Emergency Care Research Institute (ECRI) outlines strategies for understanding, detecting and reducing disparities. It demonstrates that alongside the moral case for addressing racial and ethnic disparities in care, there are further benefits for staff and healthcare organisations.
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Content ArticleThe East of England share their race strategy.
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Content ArticleNursing is a predominantly female profession, yet sex and gender bias is rife. In a remarkably candid conversation, feminist writer Caroline Criado Perez, author of ‘Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men’, talks about how health care and health care research fails women, how changes are needed for women experiencing miscarriage – and what it means when medicine treats the female body as atypical and niche. Nursing Matters is presented by PNC Chair Rachel Hollis and PNC member Alison Leary. For this episode they are also joined by RCN member Leanne Patrick, who works in services for women experiencing gender-based violence and tweets on behalf of the RCN Feminist Network.
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Content ArticleIn this episode of the podcast Health on the Line, Professor Trish Greenhalgh, professor of primary care health sciences at the University of Oxford provides a scientific take on the COVID-19 pandemic and its implications on primary care and scientific innovation. The world-renowned professor and trained GP also offers her view on virtual care, vaccine inequity and why innovation happens at times of turbulence.
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Content ArticleState of Care is the Care Quality Commission's annual assessment of health care and social care in England. The report looks at the trends, shares examples of good and outstanding care, and highlights where care needs to improve. It highlights people's experiences of care, including the impact of the pandemic, health inequalities, the challenges for people with a learning disability, the rising demand for mental health care, workforce stress and burnout, access to services, and the challenges for systems.
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News ArticleTackling inequalities was “often not a main priority” for local health and care systems over the past year, the care regulator for England has said. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said the pandemic had exposed and exacerbated inequalities, and most services demonstrated some understanding of these. But it found that tackling inequalities “was often not a main priority for systems, or strategies to identify and tackle health inequalities were not yet well established”. Issues included poor accessibility of information in different languages for some people, varying service provision and access, and a lack of understanding of how people’s individual characteristics affected the care they needed. The regulator said an example of this was the specific needs of people with a learning disability from black and minority ethnic groups. It also flagged that an increase in remote or digital care could be a barrier to people who cannot access technology or do not feel comfortable doing so. The report found inequalities had also been exposed by the coronavirus vaccine rollout, with take-up lower in all minority ethnic groups compared with in the white population, and variances according to levels of deprivation. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 22 October 2021
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Content ArticleThis guide, produced by the NHS Staff Council Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Group, is aimed at equality, diversity and inclusion leads, HR and learning and development professionals, and trade union representatives. It provides a framework of good practice for the delivery of mandatory NHS equality, diversity and inclusion training for all staff, This training should be an integral part of the organisation’s wider cultural change and organisational development activities. Planning and monitoring of training delivery should be done in partnership with trade unions and staff networks, this can also support wider staff engagement.
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Content ArticleIn this blog for NHS Providers, National medical director's clinical fellow Cian Wade writes about his work with the NHS Improvement national patient safety team on reducing healthcare inequalities. Responding to commitments in the NHS Long Term Plan, this work focuses on two main areas: Determining the extent and causes of unequal experiences of clinical harm among different patient groups. This involved working with patient groups and system leaders to map patient journeys that demonstrate how and why some patients are at heightened risk of harm. Identifying areas for development that may help reduce health inequalities around patient safety. This second phase is in progress and involves gathering input on specific interventions that may reduce the risk of harm.
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Content ArticleIn this article for the Evening Standard, journalist Susannah Butter talks to Caroline Criado Perez about her book, 'Invisible Women, Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men'. Criado Perez discusses inequalities faced by women in healthcare, including delayed diagnosis, misdiagnosis and exclusion from medical research. The article also looks at tech solutions being founded by women to fill gaps and address these inequalities.
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Content ArticleLong waiting times and growing waiting lists for hospital treatment have been a problem for some time, but the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the issue and waiting lists have grown rapidly. This analysis of waiting list data by The King's Fund shows a clear relationship between longer waiting lists and deprivation, with those living in the most deprived areas nearly twice as likely to wait more than a year for treatment compared to those living in the least deprived areas.
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Content ArticleThis study published in The Lancet analysed patient comments gathered from freely available websites using the Patient Experience Platform. It examined comments to identify disparity in care experiences of people who identified as overweight or living with obesity across all NHS Acute and Specialist Trusts and all general practitioners (GPs) in England from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2020. The study found that: across all regions, perceptions of the quality of care in the categories ‘Effective Treatment’ and ‘Emotional Support’ were significantly lower for people who identified as living with obesity compared to people who did not. people who identified as living with obesity in the negative behavioural cluster have a lower overall perceived quality of care score. barriers to quality care experienced by people who identified as living with obesity include speed of access, effective treatment, emotional support and stigmatising healthcare experiences.
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Content Article
In most cases pregnancy and birth are a positive and safe experience for women and their families. This is the outcome that everyone working in maternity services wants every time, for every woman. But when things go wrong, we need to understand what happened, and whether the outcome could have been different. The death or injury of a new baby or mother is devastating and something that everyone working in the health and care system has a responsibility to do all they can to prevent. Following the publication of ‘Getting safer faster’ the Care Quality Commission (CQC) launched a programme of risk-based, focused maternity safety inspections involving a more focused in-depth assessment of relational elements such as teamworking and culture, staff and patient experience. Building on our previous calls for action, the CQC also sought to further explore the barriers that prevent some services from providing consistently good, safe care and to better understand the disparities in outcomes that exist for women and babies from Black and minority ethnic groups. This report presents the key themes from nine of those inspections alongside insight gathered from direct engagement with organisations representing women using maternity services and their families, including Five X More and local Maternity Voices Partnerships. -
Content Article
The Patients Association: World Patient Safety Day 2021
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Maternity
While childbirth in the UK is generally a safe event, progress to improve safety seems to have stalled, and how safe mums and babies are depends on where you are and who you are, writes the Patients Association in this article for World Patient Safety Day. The Patients Association firmly believe that involving patients in their care improves outcomes and safety. Mums-to-be developing plans with the midwives and obstetricians seems a perfect example of this. However, research shows that clinicians meaningfully partnering with patients is not mainstream practice. "It will take leadership, training and funding to make patient partnership in maternity care everyday practice", says the Patient Association. "This World Patient Safety Day we call on all those in a position to bring about change in how maternity care is delivered and to pledge to introduce true patient partnership." -
Content Article
House of Commons Debate - Black Maternal Health Week (14 September 2021)
Mark Hughes posted an article in Maternity
This is the transcript of a Westminster Hall debate in the House of Commons on Black Maternal Health Awareness Week, dedicated to raising awareness about the disparities in maternal outcomes for Black women. -
Content Article
How can we make birth safer for Black women?
PatientSafetyLearning Team posted an article in Maternity
"My voice didn't matter. I felt like I was being gas lit, and that I wasn't important." Black women report being dismissed and neglected by healthcare professionals throughout pregnancy, childbirth and beyond - and are four times more likely to die in childbirth than women of other ethnicities. Prominent medical committee, NICE, has proposed that inducing pregnant Black women, bringing their birth forward early, could go some way to addressing the problem. The host of this podcast from The Fourcast speaks to a doctor who says it’ll make birth safer for mums and babies, and campaigner Sandra Igwe who says that early induction is not the solution to a deep and complex issue, rooted in racism and inadequate healthcare for Black mothers-to-be. *Content warning: This episode includes discussion about maternal death and stillbirth. -
Content ArticleThe Good Things Foundation has published a new paper on digital exclusion and its impact on people’s health, social life and economic potential. To support the Health Foundation’s COVID-19 impact inquiry, the Good Things Foundation, the Health Foundation and the King’s Fund came together earlier this year, to focus on tackling digital exclusion and health inequalities. The resulting report from the workshop and meeting provides an overview of digital exclusion and who is affected by it, as well as the impact of the pandemic on this, and some of the policy responses so far.
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Content Article
This joint letter calls on Nadine Dorries MP, Minister for Patient Safety, Suicide Prevention and Mental Health, to urgently fund a confidential enquiry into the deaths of Asian and Asian British babies. It is signed by the Chief Executives of Sands, The Royal College of Midwives, NCT and the President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
