Centring Racial Justice in the NHS New Deal
This has been written by Safiah Fardin, a Just Treatment volunteer
Like other British people, the NHS fills me with great pride. We have an institution that upholds healthcare as a human right, and is founded on that principle.
But as a South Asian woman, it's hard to ignore the reality that exists for many people in my community who often feel exposed to prejudice and stereotypes that prevent them from trusting our healthcare system and therefore getting the care they need. It’s hard to ignore that health outcomes for people of colour are poor, and actually worsening.
I’ve listened to my friend - a young black junior doctor - speak openly about her struggle with racist abuse from colleagues and patients alike and that she fears that speaking up might jeopardize her career.
It hasn’t been long since George Floyd’s murder sparked a reawkening of public conciousness to the deep rooted racism in our society - especially towards black people. And, as COVID made very apparent, sadly healthcare, and the NHS aren’t immune to this. If we are to improve the health service and outcomes for all people, we need to address where things are going wrong.
The NHS was launched in 1948, founded by Nye Beven on the principle of good healthcare for all. Many people from the Indian subcontinent, Africa and the Caribbean were recruited to help build the new healthcare system, and when they arrived they found hostility and barriers to career progression which didn’t exist for their white counterparts. It's incredible that over 70 years later we would still be facing the same issues.
Now, with increasing privatisation and underfunding, health inequalities have deepened and they are disproportionately impacting people of colour.
Take these facts:
Black women are five times more likely to die from complications associated with pregnancy, compared to white women. The risk is also higher for Asian women.
Young black men are six times more likely to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act than young white men
People from black, asian and minority backgrounds comprise one third of the NHS workforce and according to the latest Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) report from NHS England, are suffering from increasing levels of bullying, harassment, and abuse. With levels of abuse reported by white colleagues dropping in comparison.
These facts often make the news and are then pushed to the sidelines. However the pandemic has exposed the devastating impact of structural racism in the NHS - it leads to deaths - and this makes it harder to ignore. We must understand what is driving differences in health outcomes and act to overcome them.
Take the fact that Black people, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and Indians are more likely to die of a coronavirus related illness than white people and that over 63% of UK health and social care workers who die from the virus were from black minority or ethnic backgrounds. Social inequality and the higher numbers of ethnic minorities employed in lower band key worker roles, and therefore at greater risk to covid exposure, play a huge role here. Racism is complex, impacts on all aspects of society and is not going away overnight, but our NHS needs to recognise that it has work to do.
With the COVID crisis thrusting the issue of racism within the NHS back into the limelight, it’s our responsibility to make sure we don’t stop talking about it. People of colour, like ourselves, helped build the NHS. We should be able to access the same quality of care and be given the same opportunities to work within and help grow the NHS without fear of prejudice or abuse.
I started volunteering for the Just Treatment campaign because I believe there's hope - that we can build an NHS that works for everyone and puts people before profit. We need a new NHS - one that is shaped by people who use it and work within it. As part of the campaign we have heard from people in all 650 constituencies across the UK about their NHS experiences. These experiences were analysed and six themes arose. People from across the country then participated in a series of workshops, each on a different one of the six themes, to shape this bold new vision for our healthcare system.
The NHS New Deal will ensure racial justice is centred in the NHS. Join me and sign up to volunteer for the NHS New Deal here.
Now more than ever, we need an honest conversation about the racism within the NHS, but more importantly we need a new vision that delivers equitable health for all - built by people who understand what's at stake if we don’t.