Doctors from black and ethnic minorities ‘don’t feel protected’

HUNDREDS of doctors from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds (BAME) do not feel fully protected from Covid-19 at work, a survey has suggested.

Some 72 per cent of BAME respondents said they felt only partly protected, or not protected from infection, compared with 60 per cent for white respondents, according to the British Medical Association (BMA).

The results came from a survey of 7,776 doctors and medical students across England,wales and Northern Ireland last month, said the doctors’ trade union.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the BMA Council, said: “We should not have a situation in this country where health and social care workers, BAME or otherwise, are feeling unsafe or at risk from death or disease in their workplace, especially in the NHS where that work is to save the lives of others.”

The BMA also reported less than half (46 per cent) of BAME respondents said their employers had assessed their level of risk from the virus and felt confident the necessary safety adjustments had been made to their role.

More than half (55 per cent) of white respondents indicated they had been properly risk assessed.

Dr Nagpaul said: “These results underpin a horrible truth; we have known from very early on in the pandemic that health and social care workers of BAME background are more likely to become ill and die from this virus.

“We now want the Government to bring in proper solutions to address the known ethnic disparities and inequalities.”

‘This underpins a horrible truth’