The NHS will be "flying blind" in its attempts to meet its legal, and moral, obligation to eliminate ethnic inequalities in health and care until longstanding problems with the quality of ethnicity data are resolved, warns an expert in The BMJ today.
Ethnic inequalities in UK healthcare and outcomes occur across the entire life course. Analysis by broad ethnic groups can mask substantial variation within them, and higher quality data are needed, finds Sarah Scobie
Analysis of variations in health and care is key to tackling inequalities, and few areas have more pressing data challenges, than understanding the differences between ethnic groups (see box).1 Data from the UK government, NHS, Office for National Statistics, and the Nuffield Trust show wide variations across the life course (see visual summary).2 The variations between and within ethnic groups are complex, with diversity in care needs and disadvantage both apparent.
In the UK, there are stark and persistent inequalities in still births and infant mortality rates for Asian, black, and mixed ethnic groups compared with white people, but this pattern is not consistent across all measures. All cause mortality in England and Wales for people aged 10 and over between 2017 a
Expert warns NHS flying blind on ethnic care inequalities miragenews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from miragenews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Expert warns NHS flying blind in addressing ethnic care inequalities miragenews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from miragenews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.