Blogs

Comment and analysis on key issues on ethnic health inequalities in health and social care.

11 January 2023

My ambition is to see patients’ voices at the heart of the design and delivery of healthcare

As the Patient Safety Commissioner, my role is to champion the voice of patients and my goal is that every patient will feel that their voice and views matter – and that means all patients.

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1 December 2022

Racism in Medicine must be tackled for the NHS to honour its founding principles and maximise its workforce potential

I came to the UK when my family moved from Kenya in 1968. It was a time when racism was overt in society, with signage in windows of flats to let openly stating “no blacks” and racial attacks such as “paki-bashing” were commonplace.

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27 October 2022

‘Haplo Transplant’ Cured Our Sickle Cell Disease

General interventions and medications such as hydroxyurea, morphine and blood transfusions were hit and miss, usually giving relief for a period but the sickling would return with vengeance.

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14 July 2022

Build Back Fairer: Social Determinants, ethnicity and health

The Covid-19 pandemic exposed underlying inequalities in society and amplified them. Three striking features of the pandemic in Britain illustrate. First, is the social gradient in mortality from Covid – the greater the deprivation of area of residence, the higher the mortality rate.

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15 February 2022

Nationality and Borders Bill must consider mental health

The Nationality and Borders Bill stands to leave thousands in limbo by focusing on how they arrived in the UK, rather than their need for help.

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22 November 2021

COVID-19 health inequalities: Keeping our focus now and beyond the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all of us. Millions across the country have acquired or been diagnosed with the infection, with thousands suffering its debilitating medium and long-term effects.

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12 October 2021

Why Black History Month is a golden opportunity to reflect on the future of Black mental health

In recent times, there has been greater awareness of Black History Month. Dr Chuks Nwuba, a speciality doctor in eating disorders, argues that this should be leveraged to improve the mental health stigma endemic in the Black community.

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1 October 2021

Renewing our bold call for door-to-door vaccination units: we cannot afford to leave anyone behind this winter.

COVID-19 has painfully exposed the devastating impact inequalities in our society can have. With the benefit of hindsight, we cannot afford to leave our ethnic minorities communities behind this winter. Dr Halima Begum, CEO of the Runnymede Trust, on the case for door-to-door vaccination units.

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28 September 2021

Reflections of South Asian Heritage Month

My own interest in health and ethnicity was sparked only a few years ago, not because of my NHS role, but due to a life-transforming experience taking part in the BBC1 documentary ‘My Family, Partition & Me’ in 2017.

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29 July 2021

Ethnic inequalities in mortality rates and life expectancy in England and Wales: Why we should treat experimental statistics with caution

Experimental statistics, published by the ONS, suggest that ethnic minority people have longer life expectancies than White people. In this blog NHS Race and Health Observatory board member, Professor James Nazroo and colleagues examine the nature of these statistics and why they should be treated with caution.

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22 July 2021

Likkle but talawah

Over the years, having reached a point of exasperation, I accepted the struggle, hurdles and challenges to overcome can’t take place in isolation.

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22 June 2021

COVID-19 vaccinations and race equality: no trust without agency

For most of us, agency is something that, until recently, was easy to take for granted. In normal life, we make hundreds of choices every day and feel, for the most part, that decisions regarding our life and our health are ours to make. In other words, we feel free.

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