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Showing results for tags 'Health inequalities'.
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Content ArticleCancer affects one in two people in the UK and the incidence is set to increase. The NHS is facing major workforce deficits and cancer services have struggled to recover after the COVID-19 pandemic, with waiting times for cancer care becoming the worst on record. There are severe and widening disparities across the country and survival rates remain unacceptably poor for many cancers. This is at a time when cancer care has become increasingly complex, specialised, and expensive. The current crisis has deep historic roots, and to be reversed, the scale of the challenge must be acknowledged and a fundamental reset is required. The loss of a dedicated National Cancer Control Plan in England and Wales, poor operationalisation of plans elsewhere in the UK, and the closure of the National Cancer Research Institute have all added to a sense of strategic misdirection. The UK finds itself at a crossroads, where the political decisions of governments, the cancer community, and research funders will determine whether we can, together, achieve equitable, affordable, and high-quality cancer care for patients that is commensurate with our wealth, and position our outcomes among the best in the world. In this Policy Review, published in the Lancet, Aggarwal et al. describe the challenges and opportunities that are needed to develop radical, yet sustainable plans, which are comprehensive, evidence-based, integrated, patient-outcome focused, and deliver value for money.
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News Article
Record number of child deaths last year with hundreds more dying since pandemic
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The number of child deaths has hit record levels, with hundreds more children dying since the pandemic, shocking new figures show. More than 3,700 children died in England between April 2022 and March 2023, including those who died as a result of abuse and neglect, suicide, perinatal and neonatal events and surgery, new data from the National Child Mortality Database has revealed – with more than a third of the deaths considered avoidable. Children in poorer areas were twice as likely to die as those in the richest, while 15 per cent of those who died were known to social services. The UK’s top children’s doctor, Dr Camilla Kingdon, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, hit out at the government for failing to act to tackle child poverty, which she said was driving the “unforgivable” and “avoidable” deaths. The report said: “Whilst the death rate in the least deprived neighbourhoods decreased slightly from the previous year, the death rate for the most deprived areas continued to rise, demonstrating widening inequalities.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 11 November 2023 -
Content ArticleThe National Child Mortality Database (NCMD) was launched on 1 April 2019 and collates data collected by Child Death Overview Panels (CDOPs) in England from reviews of all children who die at any time after birth and before their 18th birthday. There is a statutory requirement for CDOPs to collect this data and to provide it to NCMD, as outlined in the Child Death Review statutory and operational guidance. The guidance requires all Child Death Review (CDR) Partners to gather information from every agency that has had contact with the child, during their life and after their death, including health and social care services, law enforcement, and education services. This is done using a set of statutory CDR forms and the information is then submitted to NCMD. The data in this report summarise the number of child deaths up to 31 March 2023 and the number of reviews of children whose death was reviewed by a CDOP before 31 March 2023.
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Content ArticleDuring the bleak early years of the Covid pandemic, if there was one thing we were all doing, it was “following the science”. This, we were repeatedly assured, was what was driving all the government’s tough decisions. We might not like all its policies but we shouldn’t, it was implied, argue. After all, it was – always – just “following the science”. But was it really? In her evidence to the Covid inquiry, former civil servant Helen MacNamara revealed that in April 2020, the then prime minister, Boris Johnson, asked the former chief executive of the NHS in England, Simon Stevens, about reports that female frontline healthcare workers were struggling with PPE that had been designed for men. Stevens is said to have “reassured” the prime minister that there was “no problem”. However, as Caroline Criado Perez highlights, report after report over decades has found that while PPE is usually marketed as gender-neutral, the vast majority has in fact been designed around a male body, and therefore neither fits nor protects women. In fact, more often than not, it’s a hindrance.
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News Article
Prof Sir Chris Whitty says UK faces rural and coastal ageing crisis
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The UK faces an ageing crisis and healthcare must step in, England's chief medical officer, Prof Sir Chris Whitty, warns in his annual report. People are living longer but some spend many of their later years in bad health - and that has to change, he said. Based on projections, the elderly boom will be in rural, largely coastal, areas and these places are often poor cousins when it comes to provision. In deprived regions, age-related issues emerge 10 years earlier, on average. "We've really got to get serious about the areas of the country where ageing is happening very fast, and we've got to do it now. "It's possible to compress the period of time that people spend in ill health...because otherwise we will end up with large numbers of people leading much more dependent lives." Providing services and environments suitable for older adults in these areas is an absolute priority, the report says. Read full story Source: BBC News, 10 November 2023 -
Content ArticleChief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty's annual report recommends actions to improve quality of life for older adults and prioritise areas with the fastest growth in older people.
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News Article
Black babies in England three times more likely to die than white babies
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Black babies in England are almost three times more likely to die than white babies after death rates surged in the last year, according to figures that have led to warnings that racism, poverty and pressure on the NHS must be tackled to prevent future fatalities. The death rate for white infants has stayed steady at about three per 1,000 live births since 2020, but for black and black British babies it has risen from just under six to almost nine per 1,000, according to figures from the National Child Mortality Database, which gathers standardised data on the circumstances of children’s deaths. Infant death rates in the poorest neighbourhood rose to double those in the richest areas, where death rates fell. The mortality for Asian and Asian British babies also rose, by 17%. The annual data shows overall child mortality increased again between 2022 and 2023, with widening inequalities between rich and poor areas and white and black communities. Most deaths of infants under one year of age were due to premature births. Karen Luyt, the programme lead for the database and a professor of neonatal medicine at Bristol University, said many black and minority ethnic women were not registering their pregnancies early enough and the “system needs to reach them in a better way”. “There’s an element of racism and there’s a language barrier,” Luyt said. “Minority women often do not feel welcome. There’s cultural incompetence and our clinical teams do not have the skills to understand different cultures.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 9 November 2023 -
News Article
Covid inquiry: Ex-minister challenged on plan for disabled people
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
An ex-minister has defended the government's approach to disabled people during the pandemic, following claims they were "largely disregarded". Justin Tomlinson, a former minister for disabled people, told the Covid inquiry the government recognised this group was at greater risk from the virus. He added that work had been done "at pace" to address this. The inquiry has previously been told that disabled people's views were not properly heard ahead of key decisions. Nearly six out of 10 people who died with coronavirus in England from January to November 2020 were disabled, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). In a witness statement published earlier this month, chief executive of charity Disability Rights UK, Kamran Mallik, said: "From the statements, decisions and actions of the UK government throughout the crisis, considerations relating to disabled people appeared to be largely disregarded." In his evidence earlier this month, Mr Mallik of Disability Rights UK said there was a "shocking disregard" when it came to providing information in alternative formats for disabled people, including letters on shielding for clinically vulnerable groups. He said his charity had also raised concerns about protections for care home residents, and help for disabled people who were not shielding but still needed support accessing food and essentials. Mr Mallik added that there had been no consultation to allow the views of charities or disabled people to be "properly heard before decisions were made". Read full story Source: BBC News, 8 November 2023 -
Content ArticleDuring a fellowship rotation in gynaecology, Rebekah Fenton, asked the attending physicians what pain management options they could offer patients for insertion of an intrauterine device (IUD). Their answer surprised her: none. The research on the effectiveness of pain management techniques during the procedure were not strong enough to warrant providing potential relief. But Fenton knew the attending physician was wrong: she'd received the drug lidocaine during a recent visit to her own ob/gyn to get an IUD placed. The local anesthetic enabled her to avoid the experiences of many patients who often withstand debilitating cramping and pain during insertion, side effects that can last for hours after the procedure has ended. By not teaching her how to administer pain treatment options such as lidocaine gel or injection, "they made the decision for me, whether I could give patients this option," said Fenton, now an adolescent medicine specialist at Alivio Medical Center in Chicago. Related hub content: See our Pain during IUD fitting community thread.
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News Article
NHSE failing to hold trusts to account on inequalities
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
NHS England ‘lacks a clear vision’ on a key part of its health inequalities agenda and is not holding trusts to account for delivering an ‘inclusive recovery’, a study by the King’s Fund has concluded. The think-tank’s report, which represents one of the most comprehensive analyses on the subject to date, said system leaders had not made the case for change “strongly or clearly enough to convince clinicians and other staff to consider inequalities” when tackling elective backlogs. The think-tank said it had undertaken the research to investigate to what extent local NHS organisations had taken an “inclusive approach” to managing waiting lists, as NHS England had ordered them to do in August 2020. The research team said in a statement alongside the report: “There has been a lack of a clear vision from national leaders on why inclusive recovery is important for delivering better and fairer services for patients and the public. “The report calls on the government to pay greater attention to inclusive recovery to ensure progress is made so that patients can be treated fairly, no matter their background.” Read full story Source: HSJ, 8 November 2023 -
Content ArticleStructural, economic and social factors can lead to inequalities in the length of time people wait for NHS planned hospital care – such as hip or knee operations – and their experience while they wait. In 2020, after the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, NHS England asked NHS trusts and systems to take an inclusive approach to tackling waiting lists by disaggregating waiting times by ethnicity and deprivation to identify inequalities and to take action in response. This was an important change to how NHS organisations were asked to manage waiting lists – embedding work to tackle health inequalities into the process. Between December 2022 and June 2023, the King’s Fund undertook qualitative case studies about the implementation of this policy in three NHS trusts and their main integrated care boards (ICBs), and interviewed a range of other people about using artificial intelligence (AI) to help prioritise care. It also reviewed literature, NHS board papers and national waiting times data. The aim was to understand how the policy was being interpreted and implemented locally, and to extract learning from this. It found work was at an early stage, although there were examples of effective interventions that made appointments easier to attend, and prioritised treatment and support while waiting. Reasons for the lack of progress included a lack of clarity about the case for change, operational challenges such as poor data, cultural issues including different views about a fair approach, and a lack of accountability for the inclusive part of elective recovery. Taking an inclusive approach to tackling waiting lists should be a core part of effective waiting list management and can contribute to a more equitable health system and healthier communities. Tackling inequalities on waiting lists is also an important part of the NHS’s wider ambitions to address persistent health inequalities. But to improve the slow progress to date, NHS England, ICBs and trusts need to work with partners to make the case for change, take action and hold each other to account.
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Content ArticleReducing inequalities in maternal health care in England is an important policy aim. One part of achieving that is to ensure that women from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, as well as women from the most deprived areas, see the same midwife or midwifery team throughout their pregnancy and postnatal period. Emma Dodsworth takes a closer look at the data to reveal what progress is being made on this.
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Content ArticleThe Health Equity Network (HEN) aims to build momentum for health equity across the UK. It provides an opportunity for organisations, community and voluntary groups and individuals to share their work on health equity and to engage across the country with others with the same interests. This is the report of HEN's first annual conference held on 5 October in Birmingham. The report includes links to videos of key speakers from the conference and bullet points detailing their input. It also includes brief summaries of the breakout sessions and a summary of feedback from attendees.
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Content ArticleA new guide to help health service trusts tackle racial discrimination in disciplinary procedures and promote inclusivity has been launched by NHS Providers.
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Content Article
Roger Kline's writings
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Suggest a useful website
Roger Kline is a research fellow at Middlesex University Business School prior to which he held senior positions in eight UK trade unions. Roger has an extensive knowledge and experience of workplace culture, primarily in the public sector. On his web page you can find a selection of his published papers, books and blogs. -
News ArticleThe safety of people with learning disabilities in England is being compromised when they are admitted to hospital, a watchdog says. The Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) reviewed the care people receive and said there were "persistent and widespread" risks. It warned staff are not equipped with the skills or support to meet the needs of patients with learning disabilities. The watchdog launched its review after receiving a report about a 79-year-old who died following a cardiac arrest two weeks after being admitted to hospital. As part of its investigation, HSSIB also looked at the care provided in other places to people with learning disabilities. It warned systems in place to share information about them were unreliable, and that there was an inconsistency in the availability of specialist teams - known as learning disability liaison services - that were in place in hospitals to support general staff. It also said general staff had insufficient training - although it did note a national mandatory training programme is currently being rolled out. Senior investigator Clare Crowley said: "If needs are not met, it can cause distress and confusion for the patient and their families and carers, and raises the risk of poor health outcomes and, in the worst cases, harm." Read full story Source: BBC News, 2 November 2023
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Content ArticleThe aim of this investigation and report is to help improve the inpatient care of adults with a known learning disability in acute hospital settings. It focuses on people referred urgently for hospital admission from a community setting, such as a person’s home or residential home. In undertaking this investigation, the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) looked to explore the factors affecting: The sharing of information about people with a learning disability and their reasonable adjustment needs following admission to an acute hospital. How ward-base staff are supported to delivery person-centred care to people with a learning disability.
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News Article
Black and Asian people find it harder to access NHS mental health services
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Black, Asian and minority ethnic people experience longer waiting times, and are less likely to be in recovery after treatment, when accessing NHS mental health services compared with their white counterparts, a report has found. The research looked at 10 years’ worth of anonymised patient data from NHS Talking Therapies, formerly known as Improving Access to Psychological Therapies – an NHS programme that launched in 2008 to improve patient access to NHS mental health services. A total of 1.2 million people accessed NHS Talking Therapies services in 2021-22, and by 2024 the programme aims to help 1.9 million people in England with anxiety or depression to access treatment. The report, Ethnic Inequalities in Improving Access to Psychological Therapies, commissioned by the NHS Race and Health Observatory and undertaken by the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, found that people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds were less likely to go on to have at least one treatment session, despite having been referred by their GP, than their white counterparts. Dr Lade Smith, the president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: “For far too long we have known that people from minoritised ethnic groups don’t get the mental healthcare they need. This review confirms, despite some improvements, it remains that access, experience and outcomes of talking therapies absolutely must get better, especially for Bangladeshi people. “There is progress, particularly for people from black African backgrounds, if they can get into therapy, but getting therapy in the first place continues to be difficult. This review provides clear recommendations about how to build on the improvements seen. I hope that decision-makers, system leaders and practitioners will act on these findings.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 1 November 2023 -
Content ArticleAn independent review from the NHS Race & Health Observatory of services provided by NHS Talking Therapies has identified that psychotherapy services need better tailoring to meet the needs of Black and minoritised ethnic groups.
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Content ArticleThis report documents a meeting held in September 2022 that explored how Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) surveys shed light on disparities in patient experience and how improved measurement can advance healthcare equity in the US. Over 600 CAHPS survey users, researchers, healthcare organisation leaders, patient advocates, policymakers, Federal partners and the CAHPS Consortium attended.
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Content ArticleData-driven health systems is the term we use to refer to technologies that collect, process, and analyse data about people to present health information in new ways, make predictions, or reach a particular outcome. Over three years, the Ada Lovelace Institute, in partnership with the Health Foundation, explored how the accelerated adoption of data-driven systems and digital health services interact with health inequalities in the UK.
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Content ArticleSolving Together is a partnership that enables people with different ideas and views to put forward solutions and experiences. From Monday 9 October to Friday 3 November 2023, Solving Together is hosting a series of conversations on Children and Young People’s Mental Health that aim to get ideas on how access and waiting times for community services could be improved. The conversation topics are: Reducing inequalities in access, experience and outcomes Prevention and early intervention Experience of services Transfer of care and wider support
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Content ArticleProfessor Bola Owolabi, Director of the National Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme at NHS England, kicked off Patient Partnership Week 2023 with an inspiring talk about her work in tackling health inequalities. Hear how tackling health inequalities is a win-win for patients and the NHS.
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Content ArticleReducing inequalities in maternal healthcare in England is an important policy aim. One part of achieving that is to ensure that women from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, as well as women from the most deprived areas, see the same midwife or midwifery team throughout their pregnancy and postnatal period. Emma Dodsworth takes a closer look at the data to reveal what progress is being made on this.
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Content ArticleA dementia diagnosis is a fundamental first stage of the dementia pathway. Missing out on an early and accurate diagnosis can have a significant negative impact, for example limiting access to symptom management interventions, ultimately leading to poorer outcomes and increased health and social care costs. This inquiry focuses on understanding the scale of impact of regional health inequalities on access to a dementia diagnosis and developing solutions to reduce their influence.
