Current Health Inequalities and the Government Plan of Action

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Current Health Inequalities and the Government
Plan of Action

• Rakshita Patel Race Equality Unit,
• Department for Communities and Local Government
  (DCLG)
• Barry Mussenden Equality and Human Rights
  Group,
• Department of Health

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Improving Opportunity, Strengthening Society

• Improving Opportunity, Strengthening Society
  strategy launched by the Home Secretary in
  January 2005
• First cross-Government strategy to increase race
  equality and community cohesion
• Government vision society in which every
  individual, whatever their racial or ethnic
  origin, is able to fulfil their potential through
  the enjoyment of equal opportunities, rights and
  responsibilities
• One year on annual report published in July
  2006 setting out progress so far and the key
  challenges that remain

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Background

• Black and minority ethnic communities tend to
  suffer poorer health than the general population,
  but this is not uniform across all communities or
  all aspects of health
• Government action to address the health needs of
  minority ethnic communities takes place in the
  context of its national drive to increase health
  overall and to reduce inequalities
• Providing culturally appropriate services is an
  integral and vital element of the strategy

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Health Inequalities - Facts

• In many cases, minority ethnic communities suffer
  disproportionately from certain health
  conditions
• heart disease South Asian born people are 50
  more likely to die prematurely from coronary
  heart disease than the general population
• mental health first census of mental health
  inpatients in England and Wales showed that Black
  people had significantly higher than average
  admission rates, and were more likely to be
  compulsorily admitted under the Mental Health Act
  1983
• smoking rates are higher among Bangladeshi men
  (40), Pakistani men (29) and White Irish men
  (30) compared with 24 of the general population

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Health Inequalities Facts (cont.)

• infant death rate 10.5 per 1000 live births for
  children with mothers born in Pakistan and 8.5
  for children with mothers born in the Caribbean
  (average in England and Wales is 5.2 per 1000
  live births)
• HIV among ethnic minority groups, Black
  Africans comprise the largest proportion of those
  seen for HIV care in all regions
• limiting long-term illness highest rate is
  among Asian women aged 65 and over (64.5
  compared to 53.1 for all women aged 65 and over)
• dental care 40 of Bangladeshi and 60 of
  Pakistani children visited a dentist compared to
  90 of children in the general population

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Health Inequalities Facts (cont.)

• diabetes after adjusting for age, in 2004
  diabetes was almost four times as likely in
  Bangladeshi men, and almost three times as likely
  in Pakistani and Indian men, compared with men in
  the general population
• diabetes among women, diabetes was more than
  five times as likely among Pakistani women, at
  least three times as likely in Bangladeshi and
  Black Caribbean women, and two and a half times
  as likely in Indian women compared with women in
  the general population
• gypsy and traveller communities life expectancy
  for gypsy and traveller women is up to 12 years
  less than the average female life expectancy, and
  the life expectancy for gypsy and traveller men
  is up to 10 years less than the average male life
  expectancy

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Satisfaction with services

• NHS Patient Survey programme, funded by
  Department of Health and run by Healthcare
  Commission
• South Asian people, especially Bangladeshi
  people, tend to report less favourable
  experiences with health services than the general
  population
• Results for other Black and minority ethnic
  groups did not differ significantly from the
  general population

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Our objectives

• To reduce health inequalities
• Access making health services accessible to BME
  communities
• Experience improving the BME patient experience
  of those health services and
• Outcomes reviewing the evidence on health
  outcomes and improving health outcomes

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Connecting Communities PlusGrants Programme

• Funding for voluntary, community and faith based
  organisations to help deliver and support the
  IOSS strategy
• 18m to be distributed between April 2006 and
  March 2009 6m pa for 3 years
• 11 strategic partners national organisations
  working across English regions including Black
  Health Agency and REU (now REF) - up to 150k pa
  for 3 years
• Also project grants for regional organisations
  (between 12k and 100k pa) and community grants
  for local groups (upto 6k per organisation)

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DH Agenda
The NHS of the 21st Century must be responsive
to the needs of different groups and individuals
within society and challenge discrimination on
the grounds of race, age, gender, ethnicity,
religion, disability and sexuality. NHS Plan
Core Principles and in so doing, ensure full
compliance with equality legislation!
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DH Agenda