{"id":47813,"date":"2020-06-17T16:35:25","date_gmt":"2020-06-17T15:35:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=47813"},"modified":"2020-06-24T19:26:03","modified_gmt":"2020-06-24T18:26:03","slug":"the-nhs-race-and-health-observatory-its-time-has-come","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/06\/17\/the-nhs-race-and-health-observatory-its-time-has-come\/","title":{"rendered":"The NHS Race and Health Observatory\u2014its time has come"},"content":{"rendered":"

On 30 May 2020, NHS England and <\/span>the NHS Confederation launched the NHS Race and Health Observatory<\/a>, a new centre to investigate the impact of race and ethnicity on people\u2019s health and to identify and tackle the specific health challenges facing people of black and ethnic minority origin. [1]<\/span><\/p>\n

The background to this announcement was that in February 2020, The BMJ<\/em> published a special issue<\/a> focusing on racism in medicine. [2] The edition drew on a wide spectrum of research on racial inequalities in health and on the experience of healthcare staff, illustrating how differences permeate every aspect of the NHS\u2014from ethnic disparities in maternal mortality<\/a>, and genetic counselling<\/a>, to the experience of medical students<\/a>, and career progression of junior doctors<\/a>. [3-6] In stark contrast was the lack of any evidence of action to address these inequalities, leading to a call in the issue<\/a>, for the establishment of a race and health observatory as a means to achieving an NHS free of racism and discrimination. [7]<\/span><\/p>\n

The covid-19 pandemic followed hot on the heels of the special edition, and lent an unanticipated urgency to the establishment of the Observatory. As the disproportionate impacts of this novel infection on ethnic minority communities and healthcare workers became apparent, a dismayed nation was confronted with the uncomfortable truth about how the disadvantage and deprivation which define the lives of people from ethnic minorities in England has put them at such greatly increased risk of serious illness and mortality<\/a>. [8]<\/span><\/p>\n

As highlighted by Simon Stevens, the Chief Executive of NHS England in the announcement of the Observatory<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Ethnicity and race have been shown systematically to influence our health, independent of factors such as age, sex, and socio-economic status. The coronavirus pandemic has injected stark urgency into the need for more action to both understand and tackle deep-seated and longstanding health inequalities facing people from black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the NHS has made some strides in workforce race equality, and although tackling wider inequalities cannot fall to the NHS alone, the health service has to both listen and lead as part of the solution. This new centre will therefore bring together expertise to offer practical, useful suggestions for change.<\/span><\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

What will the Observatory aim to do? It will seek to achieve not only equality of access to services, but equal health outcomes irrespective of race. While discussions as to its functions and structure have only just begun, the Observatory\u2019s aims are clear, and build on lessons of successes and failure from the past. It will\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n