Doctors have said there is a ‘crisis of confidence’ in Public Health England following a ‘profoundly disappointing’ report on how coronavirus hits ethnic minorities harder.
More than 30 ethnic minority doctors’ groups joined the doctors’ union in signing a letter saying they were ‘aghast’ at the research, which has come under criticism for lacking substance.
The report published last week found that people with ethnic minority backgrounds were up to twice as likely to die from the coronavirus, but it did not outline why, and did not provide any recommendations.
Doctors said in the letter to Health Secretary Matt Hancock and equalities minister Kemi Badenoch they question ‘the value – and even the intent’ of the official study, The Times reported.
The letter said: ‘We have long been aware of ethnic disparities in health outcomes; sadly, this review does nothing to further our understanding and we must express our profound disappointment.
‘It does rather demonstrate to us the failure of visible leadership that will engage and reform the institutional racism that Sir Simon Stevens [chief executive of the NHS in England] has referred to.’
The report revealed Britons of Bangladeshi ethnicity had around twice the risk of white Britons of dying with the coronavirus, and it showed black people, as well as those of Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, other Asian, or Caribbean backgrounds had between a 10 and 50 per cent higher risk of death. Pictured are BAME healthcare staff who have died during the Covid-19 pandemic
Signatories include the British Medical Association and groups that represent doctors with backgrounds from Nigeria, Somalia, Iraq, Ghana, Cameroon and elsewhere.
The Public Health England (PHE) report last week revealed Britons of Bangladeshi ethnicity had around twice the risk of white Brits of dying with the coronavirus.
And it showed black people, as well as those of Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, other Asian, or Caribbean backgrounds had between a 10 and 50 per cent higher risk of death.
The analysis did not take into account higher rates of long-term health conditions among these people, which experts say most likely account for some of the differences.
Evidence compiled in the report also revealed that age is the single biggest risk factor that determines how likely people are to die with the virus – those over the age of 80 are 70 times more likely to be killed than under-40s.
The government had said Professor Kevin Fenton, a director of PHE who is black, would lead the review, but the doctors’ letter criticised the fact that he played a supporting role
And health conditions which appeared often on people’s death certificates were heart disease, diabetes – understood to be type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and dementia.
More than one in five victims had diabetes, the data showed, which was a significantly higher rate than in people who died of other causes.
The chairman of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, JS Bamrah, called the report a ‘halfbaked job’.
The founder of Melanin Medics, Olamide Dada, said the study ‘ignored the urgent need to protect Bame communities’.
The letter criticises the study for not featuring any discussion on the role discrimination and racism could have played in the outcome – and lacking data on the occupations of ethnic minority workers.
‘As a priority, PHE must urgently publish, in full, any recommendations and actions it plans to take to address inequalities that Bame communities face,’ it said.
Doctors said in the letter to Health Secretary Matt Hancock (pictured) and equalities minister Kemi Badenoch they question ‘the value – and even the intent’ of the official study’
‘This is a crisis of confidence and credibility that we cannot afford.’
Public Health England has admitted that not adjusting findings for occupation or illnesses such as diabetes – which are twice as common in some minority groups and understood to affect risk – was an ‘important shortcoming’.
Doctors questioned why the review did not publish findings from Public Health England’s (PHE) community engagement, which had more than 1,000 participants.
The government had said Professor Kevin Fenton, a director of PHE who is black, would lead the review, but the doctors’ letter criticised the fact that he played a supporting role.
A Department of Health spokesperson said that more needed to be done, and the equalities minister is now taking on further work to ‘protect our communities’ from the impact of coronavirus.
The report showed that poorer, more deprived people faced a higher risk of dying and men working in lower-paid jobs – such as security guards, bus drivers and construction workers – also had worse chances of survival if they contracted the virus.
Health chiefs launched a probe to investigate the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on BAME Brits in April, prompted by a wave of evidence that showed white people were less likely to die from the disease.