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Showing results for tags 'Discrimination'.
Found 183 results
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Content ArticleCore20PLUS5 is NHS England's national approach to reducing healthcare inequalities. In this blog, Paul Gavin, Deputy Director of the Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme, reflects on learnings from a recent online survey about Core20PLUS5 in which healthcare professionals and voluntary sector organisations shared their views on the approach. NHS England have also produced an infographic summarising the survey results.
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Content ArticleCatherine Villanueva Gardner, Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, looks at the material effects on women with Long Covid.
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Content Article
Misogyny is a safety issue: a blog by Saira Sundar
SairaS posted an article in Women's health
In this opinion piece, hub topic lead Saira Sundar looks at the culture of misogyny we have inherited in the medical profession, particularly in the obstetrics and gynaecology area of medicine. We hear time and time again women speaking up about being mistreated and/or disbelieved by medical professionals, resulting in delays in diagnosis and serious harm. However, there is a real change being forced by women themselves, with the public increasingly questioning and insisting on improvement and the right to be heard. -
Content ArticleEmployers have a duty of care to support doctors when they are faced with an abusive patient or their guardians/relatives. This guidance from the British Medical Association (BMA) gives background information and steps that all employers and healthcare workers should take when discrimination against a healthcare worker occurs.
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Content ArticleAccess to healthcare is a basic right, but refugees and people seeking asylum in the UK often face barriers to accessing health services. The Refugee Council has released this collection of guides and films for health professionals, decision-makers and NGOs to address health inequalities experienced by refugees and people seeking asylum.
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Content ArticleAli Raza uses the Swiss Cheese Model by James Reason to look at discrimination in the workplace.
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Content Article
CDC's Racism and Health website (8 April 2021)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Health inequalities
Rochelle P. Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), has declared racism a serious public health threat. Adding action to words, she highlighted several new efforts CDC is leading to accelerate its work to address racism as a fundamental driver of racial and ethnic health inequities in the United States. The CDC have unveiled a new website “Racism and Health” that will serve as a hub for the agency’s efforts and a catalyst for greater education and dialogue around these critical issues. -
Content ArticleThe Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) programme has now been collecting data on race inequality for five years, holding up a mirror to the service and revealing the disparities that exist for black and minority ethnic staff compared to their white colleagues. The findings of this report do not make for a comfortable read, and nor should they. The evidence from each WRES report over the years has shown that our black and minority ethnic staff members are less well represented at senior levels, have measurably worse day to day experiences of life in NHS organisations, and have more obstacles to progressing in their careers. The persistence of outcomes like these is not something that any of us should accept. It is in recognition of these realities that the People Plan 2020/21 has ‘belonging’ as one of its four pillars.
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Content Article
Sexism in medicine
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Staff safety
This report presents the findings from a survey conducted by the British Medical Association showing that women are disproportionately affected by sexism and gender bias. The report also acknowledges how institutional factors that accompany a medical career are still disadvantaging women. -
Content ArticleA doctor describes why they left clinical practice for the sake of their mental health and how healthcare organisations can create more supportive environments.
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Content ArticleThis review explores the experiences of international nurses recently recruited to the UK nursing workforce (1995–2007) and the implications for retention. Five main themes emerged from the review: motivation for migration, adapting to British nursing, experiences of first world healthcare, feeling devalued and deskilled, and vectors of racial discrimination. Although some positive experiences are described, significant numbers of nurses describe not feeling personally or professionally valued by the UK nursing establishment, common emotions expressed are disappointment and unmet expectations. This will have implications for job satisfaction and intention to leave or stay. If overseas nurses choose to leave the UK in large numbers, the health services could face a severe staffing shortage. It is important that we listen carefully to their experiences to help identify priorities for policy and practice aimed at improving job satisfaction for migrant nurses and articulating the value that they bring to UK nursing.
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Content ArticleSometimes groups of patients who may not engage easily with healthcare services are labelled 'hard to reach'. This graphic by artist Sonia Sparkles highlights that there are barriers in healthcare that can prevent different groups accessing services—ranging from physical access needs to lack of cultural appreciation. These barriers are often created by healthcare staff and organisations who, when designing services, fail to consider the diverse nature of the population their services are for. A wide range of graphics relating to patient safety, healthcare and quality improvement is available on the Sonia Sparkles website.
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Content ArticleFor surgical teams, high reliability and optimal performance depend on effective communication, mutual respect, and continuous situational awareness. Surgeons who model unprofessional behaviours may undermine a culture of safety, threaten teamwork, and thereby increase the risk for medical errors and surgical complications. This article in JAMA Surgery aimed to assess whether patients of surgeons with a higher number of coworker reports about unprofessional behaviour experience a higher rate of postoperative complications than patients whose surgeons have no such reports. The authors found that patients whose surgeons had a higher number of coworker reports had a significantly increased risk of surgical and medical complications. These findings suggest that organisations interested in ensuring optimal patient outcomes should focus on addressing surgeons whose behaviour toward other medical professionals may increase patients’ risk for adverse outcomes.
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Content ArticleA recent report found that a third of female surgeons have been sexually harassed at work. In this opinion piece, Dr Liz O’Riordan speaks out about the abuse she suffered from male colleagues while working for the NHS. She describes her experiences, highlighting that incidents of sexual harassment are common amongst female surgical trainees who fear speaking out as it may affect their careers. She also draws attention to the fact that it is not just an issue amongst surgeons, but that many other healthcare professionals experience inappropriate sexual comments and behaviour while at work.
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Content ArticleResearch published in the British Journal of Surgery demonstrates that sexual harassment and sexual assault are commonplace within the surgical workforce and rape happens. This report from the Working Party on Sexual Misconduct in Surgery is a call to action, with a series of recommendations, for healthcare institutions to face up to the shocking reality of sexual misconduct within their organisations. Further reading: Sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape by colleagues in the surgical workforce, and how women and men are living different realities: observational study using NHS population-derived weights Calling out the sexist and misogynist culture within healthcare: a blog by Dr Chelcie Jewitt, co-founder of the Surviving in Scrubs campaign GMC's Good medical practice 2024
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Content ArticleThis research examined sexual misconduct occurring in surgery in the UK, so that more informed and targeted actions can be taken to make healthcare safer for staff and patients. A survey assessed individuals’ experiences with being sexually harassed, sexually assaulted, and raped by work colleagues. Individuals were also asked whether they had seen this happen to others at work. Compared with men, women were much more likely to have seen sexual misconduct happening to others, and to have it happen to them. Individuals were also asked whether they thought healthcare-related organizations were handling issues of sexual misconduct adequately; most did not think they were. The General Medical Council (GMC) received the lowest evaluations. The results of this study have implications for all stakeholders, including patients. Sexual misconduct was commonly experienced by respondents, representing a serious issue for the profession. There is a widespread lack of faith in the UK organizations responsible for dealing with this issue. Those organizations have a duty to protect the workforce, and to protect patients. Further reading: Breaking the silence: Addressing sexual misconduct in healthcare Calling out the sexist and misogynist culture within healthcare: a blog by Dr Chelcie Jewitt, co-founder of the Surviving in Scrubs campaign GMC's Good medical practice 2024
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Content ArticleFrom endometriosis to heart attacks, this Guardian article look into the causes and symptoms, and explore gender disparities in quality of care
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Content ArticleThere is a well-established case for involving communities and people with lived experience in health and care policy, service design and delivery. NHS England guidance on working in partnership with communities highlights the financial benefits and improvements to quality and health outcomes that working with local communities brings. But could this involvement go further? In this article, Loreen Chikwira, Researcher at The King's Fund looks at the arguments for the use of intersectional approaches in understanding people’s lived experience of care in tackling ethnic health inequalities. These intersectional approaches help health and care providers shift their focus from people’s behaviours to also identifying and addressing ways of working that create and reinforce inequalities and poor experiences of care.
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Content ArticleIn this blog post, Diana Jones, an addiction treatment expert from Archstone Behavioral Health, addresses the topic of stigma and discrimination in addiction treatment. The post explores the importance of creating safe and inclusive environments for individuals seeking recovery. It offers practical strategies such as education, empathy, cultural sensitivity, bias recognition, and shared decision-making to promote positive change in addiction treatment practices. By challenging societal misconceptions and fostering compassionate care, healthcare professionals can help individuals overcome barriers and receive the support they need for successful recovery.
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Content Article
General Medical Council Ethical hub
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in General Medical Council (GMC)
Here you can find a collection of resources exploring how to apply GMC guidance in practice, focusing on areas doctors often ask about, or have said they find challenging. These pages will help you address important ethical issues and incorporate good practice into your work. -
Content ArticleThe Professional Standards Authority (PSA) commissioned this research to help inform a consistent and appropriate approach by the regulators and registers towards the various types of discrimination in health and care. The research was undertaken to help PSA understand better the views of the public and service users on the following key questions: What constitutes discriminatory behaviour in the context of health and care? What impact discriminatory behaviour may have on both public safety and confidence? Through looking at these two areas, the research also drew out views from participants on how health and care professional regulators should respond to different types of discriminatory behaviour.
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Content ArticleThis improvement plan sets out targeted actions to address the prejudice and discrimination – direct and indirect – that exists through behaviour, policies, practices and cultures against certain groups and individuals across the NHS workforce. It has been co-produced through engagement with staff networks and senior leaders.
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Content ArticleThe Women's Health Strategy for England was developed and published in 2022 in response to the growing recognition of the unique health needs and challenges faced by women in England (and the U.K.) and was brought forward to address longstanding gaps in women's healthcare and to promote better health outcomes for women across the country. This Forbes article looks at why women’s health should be included in every government’s agenda. The author speaks to Professor Dame Lesley Regan, Women's Health Ambassador for England about the progress of the strategy and Dr. Ranee Thakar, President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists about the need to ensure underrepresented groups are included in the strategy.
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Content ArticleThe latest NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) data shows that it is still over twenty times more likely that a White Band 5 nurse will become a Director of Nursing compared to a Band 5 BME nurse. In this letter Roger Kline, Research Fellow at Middlesex University Business School, outlines his concerns about discrimination and bullying taking place within the NHS. Addressed to Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Steve Barclay, the letter recalls the findings of the Messenger report commissioned by Mr Barclay's predecessor Sajid Javid, which found that “acceptance of discrimination, bullying, blame cultures and responsibility avoidance has almost become normalised in certain parts of the system, as evidenced by staff surveys and several publicised examples of poor practice." Referring to recent calls to reduce spending on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), he outlines why patient care and frontline services cannot be detached from efforts to improve EDI. He argues that research strongly suggests how staff are treated (including whether they face discrimination) impacts on patient care, staff well-being and organisational effectiveness.
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Content ArticleInstitutional racism within the United Kingdom's (UK) Higher Education (HE) sector, particularly nurse and midwifery education, has lacked empirical research, critical scrutiny, and serious discussion. This paper focuses on the racialised experiences of nurses and midwives during their education in UK universities, including their practice placements. It explores the emotional, physical, and psychological impacts of these experiences. The study concludes that the endemic culture of racism in nurse and midwifery education is a fundamental factor that must be recognised and called out. The study argues that universities and health care trusts need to be accountable for preparing all students to challenge racism and provide equitable learning opportunities that cover the objectives to meet the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) requirements to avoid significant experiences of exclusion and intimidation.
