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Showing results for tags 'Race'.
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News ArticleNHS staff from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds should be “risk-assessed” and possibly moved away from patient-facing roles during the coronavirus crisis, according to official guidance. A letter from NHS England acknowledges UK data showing these workers are being “disproportionately affected by Covid-19” and urges health trusts to make “appropriate arrangements”. Public Health England has been asked to look into the issue by the Department of Health, the letter from NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens and chief operating officer Amanda Pritchard said. “In advance of their report and guidance, on a precautionary basis we recommend employers should risk assess staff at a potentially greater risk and make appropriate arrangements accordingly,” he added. This could mean BAME health workers being relocated away from patient-facing roles or ensuring they are adequately fitted with personal protective equipment (PPE). Read full story Source: The Independent, 30 April 2020
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News Article
Coronavirus disproportionately affecting BAME communities in UK, new figures show
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
More than 16% of people who had tested positive for coronavirus when they died were from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities, new data shows. On Monday, NHS England released data showing the ethnic breakdown of people who have died with coronavirus for the first time. The statistics come days after a review was announced to examine what appears to be a disproportionate number of BAME people who have been affected by Covid-19. Last week Downing Street confirmed the NHS and Public Health England will lead the review of evidence, following pressure on ministers to launch an investigation. Discussing the review, Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, said ethnicity is "less clear" than three others factors in determining who is most at risk from coronavirus. Read full story Source: The Independent, 21 April 2020 -
News Article
‘Shameful’ data reveals NHS treatment of minority ethnic staff
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Five years after launching a plan to improve treatment of black and minority ethnic staff, NHS England data shows their experiences have got worse. Almost a third of black and minority ethnic staff in the health service have been bullied, harassed or abused by their own colleagues in the past year, according to “shameful” new data. Minority ethnic staff in the NHS have reported a worsening experience as employees across four key areas, in a blow to bosses at NHS England, five years after they launched a drive to improve race equality. Critics warned the experiences reported by BME staff raised questions over whether the health service was “institutionally racist” as experts criticised the NHS “tick box” approach and “showy but pointless interventions”. Read full story Source: The Independent, 18 February 2020 -
Content ArticleOlder generations are becoming more diverse than ever, but also more unequal. Tackling these inequalities is important to ensure that everyone is able to live a good later life. This set of downloadable 'evidence cards' by the Centre for Ageing Better highlights the severe inequalities experienced by Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups approaching retirement age, and what causes these inequalities. The evidence cards are available to download as both PDF and image files.
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Content ArticleThe recent workforce race equality standard report described how staff from a Black and minority ethnic background are less well represented at senior levels of the NHS, and that they have worse day-to-day work experiences and face more challenges in progressing their careers. In this Nuffield Trust chart, Billy Palmer shows how stark some of the differences are.
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Content ArticleIn this blog for Refinery 29, journalist L'Oréal Blackett discusses the additional risk and associated worries faced by black pregnant women in the UK. With black women four times more likely to die in childbirth than white women, and 40% more likely to suffer a miscarriage, she examines what action the government is taking to improve outcomes for black women and their babies. She speaks to a number of campaigners who highlight the importance of including black women at every stage of research and policy to tackle race-based health inequalities, and who question whether this is being done by the UK government's new Maternity Disparities Taskforce. She also argues that empowering women to make informed, evidence-based decisions is the most effective way to improve maternal safety for black women.
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Content ArticleIn this blog for NHS Confederation, Kadra Abdinasir talks about how mental health services have failed to engage with young black men, and describes how services need to change to overcome the issue. She argues that delivering effective mental health support for young black men requires a move away from a crisis-driven response, to investment in system-driven, community-based projects. Kadra looks at learning from Shifting the Dial, a three-year programme recently piloted in Birmingham as a response to the growing and unmet needs of young black men aged 16 to 25. A recent report on the project found that most young men involved in Shifting the Dial reported good outcomes related to their wellbeing, confidence, sense of belonging and understanding of mental health.
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Content ArticleIn the 1790s, François Marie Prevost, a young French surgeon fresh from his medical training in Paris moved to Port-de-Paix, Haiti. “Of course at that time Haiti was France's most economically valuable colony”, says historian Deirdre Cooper Owens. “So there he began some experimental work on enslaved Haitian women, trying to perfect the caesarean section.” Prevost's sojourn coincided with the leadership of Toussaint Louverture, who had been born a slave, the fight for Haitian independence, and the abolition of slavery. And so Prevost left Haiti for Louisiana. “He moved to a little town outside of Baton Rouge, and began experimental surgery on enslaved women there, perfecting the caesarean section, and he did this in the 1830s, the era before the civil war that ends slavery.” It was also an era in which Louisiana surgeons were reluctant to attempt the experimental surgery on white women. Of the 15 caesarean sections done by Prevost and others in Louisiana between 1820 and 1861, all were performed on enslaved women. “At the time, in the 19th century, during the time of slavery, they couldn’t consent”, she explains. “But this is the really interesting thing: from the 1830s all the way to the 21st century, Louisiana has been in the top three states with the most caesarean sections on Black women patients…So what's going on, did all of these women need to have caesarean sections?”
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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 ArticleThis study, published in Midwifery, concludes: "An analysis of retrospective Albany Midwifery Practice statistics over 12.5 years has shown positive outcomes for women and babies in socially disadvantaged and BAME groups, including those with complex pregnancies and perceived risk factors. This study adds weight to a growing body of evidence linking relational midwifery continuity of carer with improved outcomes and policies identifying that all pregnant women should receive midwifery continuity of carer throughout the continuum of pregnancy, birth and new motherhood."
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Content ArticleThis study, published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), found that Black Americans are systematically undertreated for pain relative to white Americans.
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Content Article
ECRI: Top 10 patient safety concerns 2021
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in International patient safety
ECRI Institute's Top 10 patient Safety concerns for 2021 report highlights patient safety concerns across the continuum of care because patient safety strategies increasingly focus on collaborating with other provider organisations, community agencies, patients or residents, and family members. Each patient safety concern on this list may affect more than one setting and involve a wide range of personnel. -
Content ArticleThis report from the NHS Race and Health Observatory, acknowledges the growing evidence suggesting there may be drawbacks when using pulse oximetry on darker skin. Whilst the picture on racial bias in pulse oximetry is still mixed, as a worst-case scenario, the application of this intervention can potentially have negative outcomes for patients with more pigmentation in their skin. To help counter potential health inequalities in this area, the report outlines a number of recommendations for healthcare, regulatory and research bodies.
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Content ArticleThis blog, written by Rageshri Dhairyawan and Darren Chetty for the Cost of Living website, argues that we must reframe conversations on racialised health inequalities. Drawing on COVID-19 as an example, they state: "How we choose to frame conversations about racialised health inequalities is crucial to ensure that historically underserved communities are not further disadvantaged."
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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
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 ArticleResearch has shown Black adults experience significantly worse patient safety events when compared with White adult patients. Previous research examined how race can affect the quality of care and how it could be attributed to the differences in the quality of hospitals that Black patients are admitted to when compared to White patients. Now, new analysis suggests these disparities exist among patients treated in the same hospital.
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Content ArticlePast research, some dating as far back as 1990 has highlighted a number of inaccuracies in readings when measuring oxygen levels in ethnic minorities. Especially now with the outbreak of coronavirus, further assessment is needed to ensure accurate measurements are being taken. The NHS Race and Health Observatory is now calling for further action and research alongside a rapid review includes a series of recommendations for national healthcare, regulatory and research bodies.
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Content ArticleThe NHS Race and Health Observatory, supported by three regulators, has called on healthcare leaders to ensure that policies and processes are fair, inclusive and in line with the 2010 Equality Act. Leaders should ensure that health and care staff across the country are protected from racism, or any other form of discrimination, as they go about their vital work. Read the statement in link below.
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Content ArticleMovements change the world. Throughout history, loosely organised networks of individuals and organisations have sought changes to societies – and won. From the abolitionist struggle and campaigns for voting rights to #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter, the impact of movements can be seen everywhere.
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Content ArticleIn this blog for the Hospital Times, Tracy Bignall, Senior Policy and Practice Officer at the Race Equality Foundation, writes about how ethnicity impacts on women's health experiences. She argues that the The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) Vision for the Women's Health Strategy released in December 2021 does not give adequate attention to the influence that ethnicity has on women's experience of, and outcomes in healthcare. The article outlines instances in healthcare where ethnicity has an impact on women's health and calls for specific action to address how ethnicity influences health inequalities.
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Event
Black Maternal Health APPG Meeting
Patient Safety Learning posted an event in Community Calendar
untilThe Black Maternal Health All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) is having a meeting to discuss various updates and new improvements that have been made in the maternity world. The meeting will be hosted and chaired by Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP, Chair of the APPG and the Secretariat of the APPG is provided by Five X More CIC The E8 Group and Mimosa Midwives. The APPG aims to raise awareness of the issue of racial disparities within maternal healthcare and offer solutions to end this. Register -
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 ArticlePatient satisfaction surveys rely largely on numerical ratings, but applying artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse respondents’ free-text comments can yield deeper insights. AI presents the ability to reveal insights from large sets of this type of unstructured data. The authors’ analysis here presents AI-enabled insights into what different racial and ethnic groups of patients say about physicians’ courtesy and respect. This analysis illustrates one method of leveraging AI to improve the quality and value of care.
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Content ArticleThe New Zealand Ministry of Health has released its first Women’s Health Strategy, which sets the direction for improving the health and wellbeing of women over the next 10 years. It outlines long-term priorities which will guide health system progress towards equity and healthy futures for women. The vision of the strategy is pae ora (healthy futures) for women. All women will: live longer in good health have improved wellbeing and quality of life be part of healthy, and resilient whānau and communities, within healthy environments that sustain their health and wellbeing. A key priority is equitable health outcomes for wāhine Māori, a commitment under Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi). The strategy also aims to help achieve equity of health outcomes between men and women, and between all groups of women.
