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Showing results for tags 'Racism'.
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News Article
Racism 'could play a part in BAME covid deaths'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Factors such as racism and social inequality may have contributed to increased risks of black, Asian and minority communities catching and dying from COVID-19, a leaked report says. Historic racism may mean that people are less likely to seek care or to demand better personal protective equipment, says the Public Health England (PHE) draft, seen by the BBC. Other possible factors include risks linked to occupation and inequalities in conditions such as diabetes may increase disease severity. The report, the second by PHE on the subject, pointed to racism and discrimination as a root cause affecting health and the risk of both exposure to the virus and becoming seriously ill. It said stakeholders expressed "deep dismay, anger, loss and fear in their communities" as data emerged suggesting COVID-19 was "exacerbating existing inequalities". And it found "historic racism and poorer experiences of healthcare or at work" meant individuals in BAME groups were less likely to seek care when needed or to speak up when they had concerns about personal protective equipment or risk. The report concluded: "The unequal impact of COVID-19 on BAME communities may be explained by a number of factors ranging from social and economic inequalities, racism, discrimination and stigma, occupational risk, inequalities in the prevalence of conditions that increase the severity of disease including obesity, diabetes, hypertension and asthma." Read full story Source: BBC News, 13 June 2020 -
News ArticleAn independent investigation into working conditions at a unit of the NHS’s blood and organ transplant service has concluded that it is “systemically racist” and “psychologically unsafe.” The internal investigation was commissioned in response to numerous complaints from ethnic minority staff working in a unit of NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) in Colindale, north London. The report, carried out by the workplace relations company Globis Mediation Group, concluded that the environment was “toxic” and “dysfunctional.” The report found evidence that ethnic minority employees had faced discrimination when applying for jobs and that white candidates had been selected for posts ahead of black applicants who were better qualified. “Recruitment is haphazard, based on race and class and whether a person’s ‘face fits,’” it said. “Being ignored, being viewed as ineligible for promotion and enduring low levels of empathy all seem to be normal,” the report noted. “These behaviours have created an environment which is now psychologically unsafe and systemically racist.” Chaand Nagpaul, BMA council chair, commented, “This report highlights all too painfully the racial prejudices and discrimination we are seeing across healthcare. We must renew efforts to challenge these behaviours and bring an end to the enduring injustices faced by black people and BAME healthcare workers here in the UK.” Read story Source: BMJ, 10 June 2020
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News Article"Structural racism and social inequality" should be taken into account when looking at the impact of COVID-19 on Britain's black, Asian and minority ethnic, according to an expert involved in a recent review. Professor Kevin Fenton was a major part of a Public Health England (PHE) report ordered by the government into why the BAME community has been disproportionately affected by coronavirus. It found people from BAME groups were up to twice as likely to die with COVID-19 than those from a white British background. The review was also meant to offer recommendations, but sources have told Sky News that these were "held back" by the government. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said coming from a non-white background was a Speaking at a public meeting for Hackney Council, Prof Fenton said: "Over the last six weeks I've worked with over 4,000 individuals to understand what are some of the contextual issues that are driving the excess risk amongst, black, Asian and minority ethnic groups." "Some of the structural issues, like racism, discrimination, stigma, distrust, fair, these are real issues that are challenging for the communities and are seen as underpinning some of the disparities we see for COVID. Any conversation about what we need to do, should take into consideration these things." Read full story Source: Sky News, 9 June 2020
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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 August 2021, University Hospitals North Midlands Trust (UHNM) commissioned brap and Roger Kline to conduct a review of bullying and harassing behaviours across the Trust. The purpose of the review was to understand: the nature of bullying/harassment within the Trust (what types of behaviour are staff being subject to?) the basis of bullying/harassment (is poor treatment linked to people’s protected characteristics or other aspects of identity (such as language spoken) the scope of bullying behaviour (how frequently are staff subject to bullying behaviours and are they concentrated in particular sites, job roles, or bands? Are staff subject to bullying from patients/visitors or primarily from colleagues?) the response to any unprofessional behaviours (do people feel confident reporting or challenging poor behaviour? If not, why?) the conditions that allow bullying behaviours to continue (what aspects of organisational culture may be contributing to the persistence of bullying? Are stress, workloads, or poor management practice roots causes?) The review was prompted by anecdotal claims of inappropriate behaviour within some parts of the Trust. (The Trust has a range of mechanisms to monitor levels of bullying and harassment, including national and local surveys, reports from the Freedom to Speak Up Guardians, Dignity at Work reports, and staff listening events.) In addition, a survey conducted by BAPIO/LNC raised concerns about the treatment of doctors and how this intersected with issues around race. As such, this review sought to explore whether the treatment of Black and minority ethnic (BME) people was different to that of White British staff.
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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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- Health inequalities
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Content ArticleCore20PLUS5 is NHS England's national approach to reducing healthcare inequalities. In this blog, Paul Gavin, Deputy Director of the Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme, reflects on learnings from a recent online survey about Core20PLUS5 in which healthcare professionals and voluntary sector organisations shared their views on the approach. NHS England have also produced an infographic summarising the survey results.
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- Health inequalities
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Content ArticleThe East of England share their race strategy.
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Content ArticleSadly, we live in a world where racism, misogyny, ableism and other forms of discrimination and prejudice exist. As an organisation that is rooted in and serves our community, we are not exempt from such discriminatory beliefs and behaviours, writes Solent Trust’s Anna Rowen in this HSJ article.
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- Health inequalities
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Content ArticleRoger Kline, Research Fellow at Middlesex University Business School, comments on the Government “Action Plan” on racism.
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- Health inequalities
- Health Disparities
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Content ArticleThis article in The Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine looks at the issue of systemic racism in long-term services and supports (LTSS) including nursing homes and home- and community-based care in the USA. The authors highlight segregation and disparities, with Black, Indigenous, and persons of colour (BIPOC) users having less access to quality care and reporting poorer quality of life. The authors make a number of policy recommendations to address these health inequalities in LTSS: Targeted increases to Medicaid reimbursement tied to direct care, and targeted enhanced Medicare and/or Medicaid reimbursement to LTSS providers that serve a disproportionate share of Medicaid or underserved older adults. Pay for performance incentives should focus on improving care among LTSS providers who serve individuals with disadvantaged status because of systemic racism and that operate above and beyond a person's clinical severity and comorbidity. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) should develop an overall health equity measure which would help capture how well providers meet the needs of diverse populations. Care Compare quality scores by race and ethnicity should be used internally and shared with states to develop culturally appropriate policies. Race and ethnicity-specific quality measures should be included on state-level report cards to incentivise action among states and tailor solutions to the local context. Promote culture change in nursing homes, with an ultimate goal of creating a person-centred, homelike model of care. Expand access to Medicaid-waivered home- and community-based services. Ensure that home- and community-based services are culturally appropriate. Promote integrated home- and community-based programs that can be targeted to BIPOC users to address existing disparities in outcomes.
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- Health inequalities
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Content Article
ECRI: Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns 2022
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in International patient safety
ECRI's annual Top 10 list helps organisations identify imminent patient safety challenges. The 2022 edition features many first-time topics, and emphasis is on potential risks that could have the biggest impact on patient health across all care settings. The number one topic on this year’s list has been steadily growing throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and impacts patients and staff on all levels: staffing shortages. Prior to 2021, there was a growing shortage of both clinical and non-clinical staff, but the problem has grown exponentially. In early January 2022, it was estimated that 24% of US hospitals were critically understaffed, while 100 more facilitates anticipated facing critical staff shortages within the following week. The list includes diagnostic and vaccine-related errors that can impact patient outcomes. In addition, several topics on this year's list reflect challenges that have arisen as a result of the stresses associated with delivering care during a global pandemic.- Posted
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- Safe staffing
- Staff factors
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Content ArticleHealthcare professionals need clearer guidance on responding to racism in paediatric settings, argue Zeshan Qureshi and colleagues.
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Content ArticleEmployers have a duty of care to support doctors when they are faced with an abusive patient or their guardians/relatives. This guidance from the British Medical Association (BMA) gives background information and steps that all employers and healthcare workers should take when discrimination against a healthcare worker occurs.
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Content ArticleThis report by the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London highlights the opportunities and barriers for artificial intelligence to improve the health of the UK’s minority ethnic groups. It outlines the urgent need to address issues such as biased algorithms, poor data collection and a lack of diversity in research and development, in order to prevent a worsening of health inequalities experienced by minority ethnic groups.
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Content ArticleWith allegations into racial discrimination at the workplace rarely upheld by employers or courts, Roger Kline, Naledi Kline and Joy Warmington give a set of questions for investigators to ensure more robust investigations.
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- Investigation
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Content ArticleA new report by the NHS Race and Health Observatory makes robust recommendations—we must act on them, write Mohammad S Razai and colleagues in this BMJ opinion piece. The magnitude of racial health inequalities reported in the NHS Race and Health Observatory’s recent review comes as no surprise. It highlighted the overwhelming, stark, widespread, and longstanding inequalities that people from ethnic minorities in the UK experience in access to healthcare and outcomes. The report found that this occurs “at every stage, throughout the life course, from birth to death” and is “rooted in experiences of structural, institutional, and interpersonal racism.” This evidence has been known for a long time, with the disproportionate impacts of Covid-19 on people from ethnic minorities drawing even greater attention to and wider recognition of these facts. Will evidence, however, be enough to compel those charged with the nation’s health to acknowledge and take urgent action to redress these egregious inequalities?
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- Health inequalities
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Content ArticleAs well as a moral issue, tackling racism affecting NHS staff is a crucial part of improving patient safety and care, says MDX Research Fellow Roger Kline. In this blog, Roger looks at the risks of racism on patient safety.
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Content ArticleThis report was triggered by the Coroner’s report into the death of Evan Nathan Smith in North Middlesex hospital. Evan was a young man with his whole life in front of him. The mistakes made in his treatment leading to his early and avoidable death brought into sharp focus the lack of understanding of sickle cell, the battles patients have to go through to get proper treatment and the terrible consequences which can come about as a result. Following the publication of the Coroner’s report, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia held three evidence sessions, hearing from patients, clinicians and politicians. This report is a result of that evidence. The findings in this report reveal a pattern of many years of sub-standard care, stigmatisation and lack of prioritisation which have resulted in sickle cell patients losing trust in the healthcare system that is there to help them, feeling scared to access hospitals, expecting poor treatment from some of those who are supposed to care for them and fearing that it is only a matter of time until they encounter serious care failings.
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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 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 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.- Posted
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- Obstetrics and gynaecology/ Maternity
- Health inequalities
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Content ArticleThis report, No Patient Left Behind, has been published by The APPG on Stem Cell Transplantation and Advanced Cellular Therapies, following an inquiry into barriers which patients face when accessing treatment and care.
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- Racism
- Health inequalities
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