Studies have found that racial inequities in the healthcare system are harming the mental and physical health of millions of patients in the UK. Additionally, a recent review by the NHS Race and Health Observatory also stated that these racial inequalities have been persistent for decades and are very evident ‘at every stage throughout the life course, from birth to death’.

Although studies and reports have kept highlighting this matter for years, almost no significant change has occurred within the NHS. The director of the NHS Race and Health Observatory even stated that they have repeatedly tried to call for action on race inequality within the UK’s healthcare system, however, with little success.

The recent review is the first of its kind as it analyses the ‘evidence of ethnic health inequality through the lens of racism’. Its outcomes prove how structural and institutional racism is and how it has been this way for centuries. People of colour are hesitant to ask for medical help due to their fear of encountering racist NHS healthcare professionals who will either dismiss their experiences of pain or provide them with inadequate treatment.

Furthermore, the review was also filled with examples of racial inequality in the NHS, for instance within the mental health field. White people were much more likely to be referred to the IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies), a programme set up by the NHS. Even if people of colour are referred to it, they are less likely than white British patients to receive an assessment. There was also evidence of negative and racist interaction within the maternity services, with many women of colour feeling ‘othered, unwelcome, and poorly cared for’. In addition, the report found that there is a pay gap between white and non-white NHS workers, with staff members of colour receiving a lower income. Healthcare workers of colour have also long complained about their experiences with racism within the NHS.

According to an NHS spokesperson, the NHS has started tackling the issue of racism within healthcare by working closely with the Race and Health Observatory. However, the kind of action that is being taken has not yet been explained in further detail.

Racial biases in healthcare

Studies done throughout the years have shown that in healthcare white bodies are seen as the default. Clinical trials are an extremely necessary step in finding correct medicine or creating safe vaccines to distribute to the public in order to prevent or stop the spread of diseases and viruses, such as COVID-19. Research done in clinical trials helps gain more medical knowledge. However, these trials often include primarily white people, reiterating the belief that ‘health care tailored to the needs of White ethnic groups will be sufficient for all in society’.

Reports have also found that black women are ‘four times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth’ and women from Asian backgrounds are twice as likely, compared to white women.

Even everyday methods like the BMI (body mass index), which is used to determine whether one’s weight is healthy, has roots in racist and fatphobic biases. It is deemed a standard to calculate a person’s health based on their weight and height, however, the person who invented it, Adolphe Quetelet, was anything but a healthcare professional. He was keen on finding out what the average person looked like, yet he used data primarily from white men in Europe. While the BMI suggests what an average white European man looks like, it does not take into account the many different bodies from various backgrounds and genders.

This is just one aspect that highlights the ways in which white male bodies are viewed as the default and how the healthcare system perpetuates such biases.

Racial inequalities throughout the pandemic

The review done by the NHS Race and Health observatory came after the evidence of people of colour being disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Black men are ‘4.2 times more likely to die’ from COVID-19 related complications, black women are 4.3 times more likely and south Asian men are twice more likely, compared to their white counterparts. An additional reason as to why this happened is because people of colour are more likely to be ‘key workers in face-to-face roles’ that placed them at risk. However, the main contributing factor is health inequality. Among certain minority ethnic groups, there is a higher chance of having diabetes, heart and kidney disease. Instead of focusing on these inequalities, the healthcare system glossed over them, ‘downplaying structural racism’ as a whole. It is this dismissal that allows for systemic racism in healthcare to continue.

In the UK, the health of people of colour has been negatively impacted by the institutional racial discrimination and racist biases of the healthcare system through inadequate treatment, poor quality and missing data of minority ethnic people. Therefore, it is high time to tackle this systemic issue and make significant changes within the NHS.