People from ethnic minority groups appear to be struggling more during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report.
And it said that better relationships were needed between people from black, Asian, minority ethnic and refugee (BAMER) communities and the NHS.
The report was produced for Sussex NHS Commissioners, including the Brighton and Hove Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), by Dr Anusree Biswas Sasidharan on behalf of the Trust for Developing Communities.
It includes the findings from a survey of 310 people from black, Asian, minority ethnic and refugee (BAMER) backgrounds in Brighton and Hove on their experiences of covid-19.
The findings are due to be presented to Brighton and Hove City Council’s Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday 24 February.
Those findings include a need for simple information to help people deal with an “overwhelming amount” of information and misinformation.
Dr Biswas Sasidharan’s report found that BAMER people did not trust the government’s messages around covid-19.
Those asked found that it “contradicted scientific evidence, was hypocritical and politically motivated”.
However, the NHS was considered a trusted source – and a woman of Indian heritage, who was asked about trusted information, said: “From the NHS website and also I’m on the Join Zoe app, from King’s College.
“I’m trying not to watch the news. I don’t believe the news or the government. I also access the Office for National Statistics. Basically, not Boris Johnson.”
Britain’s response and the differences in other countries were also highlighted in the report.
A woman of south-east Asian heritage said: “One thing I was concerned about was the mask-wearing. In my country, mask-wearing is common, so I don’t understand why they are not worn here. Also, people look at me when I do wear one like I have the coronavirus.”
A woman from Morocco said: “Before I felt angry because I saw how other countries were doing lockdown and I was angry that nothing was happening here, it was not strict and people were acting as if everything was normal.
“Now I think we should keep it for longer because otherwise the lockdown we did do and the changes we made would have been for nothing.”
Dr Biswas Sasidharan’s report was based on a survey of 310 people from 56 different self-defined ethnicities. More respondents were women than men and two in five were aged 35-54.
Thirteen per cent of all those who responded thought they had contracted the coronavirus and a further 6 per cent were uncertain as they had not been tested.
Many who had contracted covid did so as key workers who account for almost a third of the workforce in Brighton and Hove.
The NHS is one of the biggest employers of people from ethnic minorities in the report, which recommends BAMER-specific risk assessments and measures to reduce exposure to covid.
A fifth of the key workers who took part in the research felt they were expected to take higher risks than their white colleagues.
In interviews and focus groups, the majority of participants were positive about the NHS.
But of the 175 who took part in interviews and focus groups, almost half, 86, had negative experiences ranging from language barriers to cancelled appointments and perceived discrimination.
An interviewee quoted in the report said: “I was mistreated with disrespect. I couldn’t communicate at A&E and explain my issues because of lack of knowledge in English language and language barriers.
“They didn’t use interpreting services to help me to explain my health condition. I felt so frustrated.”
Lockdown resulted in increased anxiety among people from a BAMER background, with many experiencing poor mental health because of limited access to a doctor’s surgery.
Dr Biswas Sasidharan cited the Runnymede Trust State of the Nation report which found that poverty, health inequality and poor housing hit BAMER communities hardest.
A woman of Arab heritage shared how her family and friends abroad had helped with money as they were struggling and she had no access to public funds.
She said: “My husband applied for benefits for first time in late February and now that is helping – but no allowance for me.”
The coronavirus is expected to dominate the agenda at the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting next week.
Councillors are due to be given updates on the vaccination programme and a presentation on covid and mental health services.
The committee meeting is due to start at 4pm on Wednesday 24 February and is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.
An area I would be interested in is access to Urgent Care for BAMER people. The NHS has implemented Think 111 First which asks people to phone 111 before going to A&E to get an appointment slot. 111 can then send people to an appropriate place for care. The idea is to reduce over-crowding in ED and thus reduce the risk of cross-infection. Which is all good, but, a lot of these access routes are digitized now e.g. 111 Online, NHS.UK and GP Online Consultations. None of these routes offer any translations. The NHS has made big efforts to make the sites accessible by simplifying the English language on these sites. But, all the work and risk of translation is left to the citizen.
In the past if someone fell through the cracks in the system they could stagger into a GP reception or A&E and get some help, perhaps accompanied by someone who could translate, which could be seen as a safety-valve in the system. A hospital being understood as a place to go to, to get emergency care, no matter where you are from in the world.
Now, the route seem to be narrowing to ‘phone 111 and ask for a translator’. I am wondering how that is working in practice, and look forward to reading the report and listening to the session.
While I’m not really a fan of the Government on a number of levels, the NHS is run by the Government and they broadly said the same things, although some individuals working for the NHS of course gave their own commentary. It may be they were politically motivated.
Like the Government the Opposition has also been urging people to obey lockdowns and other restrictions, stay at home, keep their distance, wash their hands, go for their vaccination etc.
Some scientific evidence resulted in different conclusions even among different scientists, let alone politicians. And why shouldn’t politicians be politically motivated? This report and the TDC report it was based on appear to be!