Effectively tackling race inequalities in health and social care

The NHS Race and Health Observatory (RHO) today (8 November) engaged on its key ambitions and future priorities to tackle racial health disparities across England.

Barriers faced by children and young people living with sickle cell as they transition from NHS paediatric to adult health care providers are set to be explored and tackled.

There is a wealth of evidence showing that people from most minoritised ethnic groups have much poorer health than the White British group. These studies have shown that not only do ethnic inequalities in health exist, but that they have persisted over time, and are exacerbated in later life.

Responding to the Darzi Review findings, Professor Habib Naqvi, chief executive of the NHS Race and Health Observatory said:

We strongly condemn the racist violence that we have all witnessed over the last few days and our thoughts remain with the families and friends who are grieving loved ones.

Listen in to Professor Habib Naqvi, Chief Executive of the NHS Race and Health Observatory and Dr Rohan Mehra, Royal College of Physicians clinical education fellow, (Infectious diseases/microbiology SPR).

The NHS Race and Health Observatory has commissioned further work into neonatal screening assessments which effectively identify jaundice in Black, Asian and ethnic minority babies.

In January 2024, the NHS Race and Health Observatory launched a landmark pilot Learning and Action Network (LAN) to address stark disparities in maternal, perinatal and neonatal health outcomes.

This report sets out to understand the broad availability of digital products and services that currently exist. The report explores the range of technology that is in place for Accident and Emergency clinicians, red-cell specialists, and ambulance care, to aid timely support to sufferers on their emergency hospital arrival.

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a large fall in hospital activity such as consultations, scans, tests and operations across England leading to a huge backlog in routine hospital care with an estimated seven million patients waiting to begin hospital treatment. The report outlines how people from Asian groups, in particular, experienced a much larger fall in planned hospital care during the pandemic than people from White, Black or Mixed ethnic groups.

Responding to the latest National Child Mortality Database figures published on 9 November, Dr Habib Naqvi, CEO of the NHS Race and Health Observatory said:

Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities are poorly represented in genetic medicine research and artificial intelligence-based risk prediction tools used to calculate the chance of developing future disease.