It’s going to hit BAME individuals worse… again.
Article:
Dr Dolin Bhagawati, of the Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK), said the group remained “very concerned” about the effects of the spike on both NHS workers who are of BAME origin as well as the wider population. He also admitted DAUK were fearful of the “dire consequences”, should a second wave materialise.
He believes actions to protect ethnic minority NHS workers during the crisis were not “taken promptly, even after the relationship to mortality and morbidity in this population was known”.
Last week, a BMA source confirmed that they knew of at least 31 BAME doctors who had died from Covid-19.
“Crucially, healthcare institutions are yet to risk assess all of their BAME staff,” Dr Bhagawati told Eastern Eye on Tuesday.
“Where risk assessments have taken place, DAUK has been told by frontline doctors again and again that nothing has been put in place to modify the personal risk to them as BAME frontline healthcare workers.
“The slow reaction of NHS leadership and government regarding the risk to BAME staff has led to frontline workers increasingly losing trust in such figures, as this occurs against the background of a long history of concerns being identified and not acted upon.”
