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There is a clear and overwhelming case for radical action on racial inequity in the healthcare system, a review has concluded.1
The damning report, commissioned by the NHS Race and Health Observatory, found “widespread” ethnic inequalities across a range of health services, with some communities found to have particularly poor access, experiences, and outcomes.
For too many years the health of people from ethnic minorities has been negatively affected by a lack of appropriate NHS treatment for health problems, poor quality or discriminatory treatment from healthcare staff, missing data on ethnic monitoring; and a lack of appropriate interpreting services, the report said. Many people from ethnic minorities may delay or avoid seeking help because they fear racist treatment from NHS professionals, it added.
“It is clear that existing evidence on the stark health inequalities faced by ethnic minority communities has not led to significant change,” said Habib Naqvi, director of the NHS Race and Health Observatory. “By drawing together the evidence and plugging the gaps where we find them we have made a clear and overwhelming case for radical action on race inequity in our healthcare system.”
Chaand Nagpaul, the BMA’s chair of council, called the review a “shocking indictment of the scale of harm that racism is causing millions of people in the UK.” Because people from ethnic minority groups were receiving poorer care than white people, the NHS was failing to honour its...