I agree that we are indeed witnessing avoidable human tragedy through the rise of toxic political regimes and institutional inequality.1
The two main global threats that have exacerbated and shone a spotlight onto health inequalities are, of course, the pandemic and the racial injustices. Unfortunately, they are disproportionately impacting the most vulnerable communities in our society. I feel there hasn’t been the degree of visibility on this issue that many would have liked. The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on BAME communities and frontline healthcare workers needs to be addressed at pace. There may be ongoing work being conducted, but the time is now.
I think the political and medical fraternities have missed opportunities. Furthermore, more than 90% of all of the doctors who tragically died because of COVID-19 were from ethnic minority backgrounds. The Office for National Statistics published some of the most detailed data analyses to date recently on this topic and the content was a difficult read, to say the least — it was as tragic as it was upsetting.
We each have our own story to tell about how the pandemic has taken its toll on our lives. Myself and others have suffered personal losses of ethnic minority colleagues, friends, and family. I’m proud to say that the Royal College of General Practitioners membership has a sizeable proportion of ethnic minority GPs and we need to be a representative organisation that provides clear guidance and steps to mitigate risk and protect our most vulnerable members.
I know that the party line thus far on this topic has been that we are working closely with our stakeholders and doing all we can to reduce inequalities. Public Health England published its second report recently and provided some recommendations. It’s a good start but, unfortunately, I feel that the time for simply reiterating politically correct catchphrases — and repeatedly summarising epidemiological data that we already know — has passed. Now is a time for decisive action and an opportunity to move beyond the data and to show that we genuinely care about equality, diversity, and inclusion.
- © British Journal of General Practice 2020
REFERENCE
- 1.↵