Public Health England (PHE) have published the second part of their review into the disparities in the risk and outcomes of COVID-19. This time the focus is on the impact of COVID-19 on Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities.
In response to the review, Professor Andrew Goddard, president of the Royal College of Physicians said: 'The second part of PHE’s review once again shows how COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted those from BAME communities and widened health inequalities even further. It remains unclear to us why this element of the report did not accompany the earlier PHE review.
'Now that we have these recommendations, they must be placed at the core of both the NHS and the government's plans to restart services, as well as plans for further COVID-19 outbreaks. There is no time for complacency and leaders at all levels should be made accountable for delivering these recommendations and regularly reporting on progress.
'We know that our members from BAME communities remain significantly more concerned about their health. Which is why we are disappointed at the slow progress in rolling out risk assessments to NHS staff. Only 24% of our members told us that they’d had a formal risk assessment two weeks ago, despite the NHS having known about the increased risk factors for weeks prior.'
The full PHE review can be found here.
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