This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Plans to stamp out racism in NHS
05/12/2001
New measures to tackle institutional racism in
NHSScotland - backed by investment of £1.1 million - were
unveiled today.
Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm today announced a
five-point plan to stamp out institutional racism and
improve access to health services for patients from ethnic
minorities.
The moves follow the publication today of an 18-month
study, 'Fair for All', into how the NHS meets the health
and healthcare needs of ethnic minority people. The study
shows wide variations in levels of access to care, a lack
of capacity to deal with ethnic minority health issues, and
a lack of awareness of ethnic minority health issues among
NHS leaders.
Today's package of measures aims to create an NHS which
effectively tackles the language and cultural barriers
which are preventing ethnic minorities from receiving the
equitable level of healthcare and treatment they
deserve.
The new measures include -
- draft guidance for all NHS Chief Executives, outlining
what standards they should be meeting in the treatment of
ethnic minority patients, the recruitment and retention of
ethnic minority staff, the provision of religiously
sensitive food and better patient information in a wider
range of languages;
- a high-level NHS 'Consensus Conference' to be held
next month to finalise the standards and create a sense of
NHS ownership over them;
- the establishment of an ethnic minority resource
centre, supported by £1.1m over the next three years. Based
within Scotland's Public Health Institute, it will support
NHSScotland staff in meeting the new standards and help
spread good practice;
- a pledge to ensure that existing NHS guidelines, drawn
up in conjunction with NHS staff groups, on equal
opportunities policies and tackling bullying and harassment
in the workplace are rigorously enforced;
- and a commitment that every NHS Chief will sign up to
the Commission for Racial Equality's Leadership Challenge,
requiring them to actively promote racial equality and
provide information on their planning, action and
progress.
Announcing the new measures in Edinburgh, Mr Chisholm
said:
"The NHS was established to provide universal healthcare
for all - regardless of class, race, gender or religion.
Fifty years on it has managed to keep pace with the many
advances in medicines and technology - but as our research
shows, it has in many ways failed to keep pace with the
major population changes which have taken place in
Scotland.
"The research conducted by Dr Rafik Gardee did not find
real evidence of individual racist behaviour within
NHSScotland. However, it did find that the NHS had too
often failed to overcome the language and cultural barriers
faced by many ethnic minority patients. Barriers which can
stand in the way of people from ethnic minority backgrounds
accessing the same quality of care as everyone else.
"This research, together with the unprecedented action
announced today will help us work with NHS employers and
staff to root out institutional racism from NHSScotland and
address issues relating to access and use of health
services. NHS Boards will be required to provide
religiously appropriate food and provide better patient
information available in a wider range of languages. NHS
leaders will also have to ensure that the provision of
services for ethnic minority groups forms part of their
'core business' - not as an 'add on' to existing services
or as part of some well-intentioned but short-term
project.
"This will be the first step towards ensuring that
regardless of where care is provided - whether the most
remote and rural areas parts of Scotland or in the East End
of Glasgow - it must meet the health needs of Scotland's
ethnic minority communities much more effectively than in
the past. I have committed the NHS to supporting and
equipping staff to rise to this challenge and I am
confident that they will embrace these improvements
enthusiastically."
Trevor Jones, Chief Executive of NHSScotland, said:
"The 'Fair for All Report' - the first of its kind and
unique in its field - presents a picture of positive
progress in many areas. But it but does not shirk from a
'warts and all' analysis where needed. It raises key issues
about the action needed to ensure further improvements for
ethnic minorities are made throughout Scotland.
"The report shows that while much good practice exists,
there is still some way to go in planning and developing a
'culturally competent' NHSScotland - a service that takes
account of the distinctive needs of the diverse groups
throughout the country.
"It has never been acceptable to relegate the health
needs of a group on the basis of small numbers or cultural
background. This document makes clear that those days are
past. I believe that NHSScotland is willing to rise to the
challenge, set out in last year's Scottish Health Plan, of
meeting the distinctive health needs of people and family
groups from ethnic minority communities. Ignorance is no
longer an excuse for inaction. We will have a new £1.1m
resource centre for use by all in the NHS on these
issues.
"This represents a challenging agenda for NHSScotland
but one which I am proud to accept on behalf of all my NHS
colleagues. Today, I will sign up to the Commission for
Racial Equality's Leadership Challenge as a sign of my
clear commitment to translating these measures into
positive action. A commitment which will be matched by the
Chief Executive of every health organisation in
Scotland."
Deputy Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality, Dr
Moussa Jogee, said:
"The CRE's Leadership Challenge invites leaders across
Scotland's public, private and voluntary sectors to make a
personal commitment to the eradication of racial
discrimination. By taking personal responsibility to ensure
that their organisations are working towards racial
equality, these leaders show that there is no place for
racism in modern Scottish society.
"I am delighted that Trevor Jones has taken up the
Challenge on behalf of NHSScotland. His signature signals
the establishment of a strong working partnership between
the CRE and NHSScotland - two organisations working towards
the common goals of ensuring that Scotland's health
services are appropriately designed and delivered to meet
the needs of our diverse society.
"I and my staff at the CRE in Scotland look forward to
developing this partnership with Trevor Jones and his
colleagues over the coming months and years."
In 1998, the then Scottish Office Health Minister, Sam
Galbraith, challenged the NHS to integrate ethnic minority
health issues in to their mainstream work and not treat
them as an 'add-on'. Last year, the Scottish Executive
Health Department commissioned a 'stocktake' of policies
and practices used by Boards and NHS Trusts in meeting this
challenge.
The audit was conducted by Dr Rafik Gardee - a
consultant in Public Health at Greater Glasgow Primary Care
Trust, and one of Scotland's top experts in the field of
ethnic minority health issues. He was supported in his work
by his colleague Prince Obike. The audit analyses the
current situation, outlines the support which the NHS
organisations say they need to enable them to progress work
in this field and sets out the requirements now being
placed on NHS organisations to meet the distinctive health
needs of people from Scotland's ethnic minority
communities.
The main findings of the stocktake were that:
- Health Boards and NHS Trusts were at very different
stages in responding to the health and services needs of
ethnic minority communities
- in some areas, the issue has been given low priority.
This was a direct result of the relatively low visibility
of ethnic minority communities and the wider pressures on
resources
- while some NHS organisations had undertaken some good
project development work, many were in the early stages of
acting on ethnic minority health issues and concerns
- in some rural areas there was a 'colour blind' with
organisations treating everyone the same, without
acknowledging that each ethnic minority group has very
different health needs which need to be addressed
- there were examples of good practice and these should
be drawn on more widely by NHSScotland
This is the summary of a much fuller report, has already
been made available to the NHS, and is available on the
Scottish Executive website - www.scotland.gov.uk
The measures being announced today are in line with the
commitment in the Scottish Health Plan to establish a truly
patient-centred NHS