Doctors belonging to ethnic minorities were less likely to speak up when they were given unsuitable personal protective equipment (PPE), according to the Covid inquiry. Professor Philip Banfield, chair of the British Medical Association, added that two-thirds of doctors felt they had not been properly risk assessed. It was found that ethnic minorities were significantly more likely to catch and die of Covid, with Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Caribbean backgrounds particularly affected.
The first 10 doctors to die of Covid in the UK were from ethnic minorities, with 85% of those who died in the first year of the pandemic also belonging to ethnic minorities. The National Health Service was recognised as institutionally racist, which meant that doctors belonging to ethnic minorities were less likely to be forthright about saying they required appropriate respiratory protective equipment.
Prof Banfield said that PPE needs to be particularly well-fit tested, but it does not suit people with beards for religious purposes. There are active steps being taken to correct the situation, driven by the BMA and NHS England. Prof James Nazroo criticised the lack of studies of ethnic inequalities before the pandemic, with decision-makers taking a colour-blind approach and disregarding existing economic, social, and health vulnerabilities.
Hugo Keith KC, the inquiry’s counsel, noted that equality organisations had described a lack of consultation and involvement in decision-making for people belonging to ethnic minorities. The Covid pandemic and some measures implemented exacerbated pre-existing inequalities, with unclear government communications failing to consider the impact on disadvantaged groups. The Traveller Movement advocated for the support of Gypsies, Romany Gypsies, and Irish Travellers in isolation or quarantine through the provision of food and mental health support. Meanwhile, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the UK were said to have had contrasting responses
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