Protect BAME staff, urge doctors

V A GROUP of 39 doctors, including the executive chairman of the Jewish Medical Association, have called on the government to implement proposals to safeguard BAME healthcare workers, who have experienced a disproportionately high number of deaths due to coronavirus.

According to Professor David Katz, a leading immunologist and head of the JMA, Public Health England had been unable to indicate clearly, in a virtual meeting last Monday, how it intended to implement the recommendations in its report, published two weeks ago.

“People are dying now,” said the professor, adding he felt he had to intervene “as part of [Jews’] ethical role in society”.

The PHE report recommended including ethnicity in NHS data collection and employing “culturally competent” risk assessments. The group of doctors emphasised the need for “urgent implementation” of the recommendations in a letter to health secretary Matt Hancock and equalities minister Kemi Badenoch on June 21, but had yet to receive a response.

A spokesperson for the Government Equalities Office said the June report had provided “valuable insight” and a “subsequent stakeholder report will help inform the next stages of our work on this vital issue”.

It is understood that the NHS has created a centre to investigate the impact of race on health and offer analysis and policy recommendations. Race would now be included as a factor in risk assessments.

Professor Katz said he and others thought immediate action was needed, rather than further research.

A recent study by the Office for National Statistics found those who identified as Muslim or Jewish were at greater risk of dying from Covid-19.

The PHE report also recommended targeting non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, since certain underlying conditions have been identified as risk factors. Professor Katz told the JC of his concern that, as a result of efforts being diverted away from communicable diseases, immunisation rates would fall. He pointed to government cuts to health in the East End of London, which then saw an increase in measles cases.

A PHE spokesperson said: “PHE has sought to understand the social and structural determinants of health that may impact disparities in Covid-19 incidence, treatment, morbidity, and mortality in BAME communities… these recommendations have been shared with the Equalities Minister.”