Recommendation 57

HM Government · verbatim extract Accepted in Part

The government accepts this recommendation. The government is looking holistically at how recovery for ethnic minority groups and underlying disparities can be tackled in the longer term through the Levelling Up agenda and the newly formed Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID). Launched on 1 October 2021, OHID is systematically tackling the top preventable risk factors such as smoking and obesity, improving the public’s health and narrowing health disparities. The Office is working with other government departments, local government and the NHS and with industry to drive change on the drivers and determinants of ill health and health disparities. Alongside the launch of OHID, the government has launched the Health Promotion Taskforce to drive cross-government action on the causes of ill health, in recognition of the fact the drivers of ill health are broad and complex, requiring concerted action beyond the health system. Wide-ranging interventions have been implemented to minimise the unequal impacts of COVID-19 on disadvantaged groups including ethnic minorities. These have been summarised in the Minister for Equalities’ quarterly reports to the Prime Minister, and the final report was published in December 2021 which made a series of recommendations for the government and which the Prime Minister accepted in full.27 In the short-term, and in close partnership with local authorities who know their communities best, the government has: ● Provided COVID-19 related guidance to improve health outcomes for at-risk groups, translated government messaging into a range of languages and accessible formats, and worked with 43 ethnic minority TV channels and stakeholders to share vital information. ● Invested in research to improve understanding of the unequal health impacts of COVID-19 across society. 27 Final report on progress to address COVID-19 health inequalities – GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/final-report-on-progress-to-address-covid-19-health- inequalities/final-report-on-progress-to-address-covid-19-health-inequalities) ● Ensured that self-isolation support remains in place for those in occupations where they are financially unable to self-isolate. ● Developed targeted measures to encourage ethnic minority uptake of both testing and vaccination through culturally sensitive campaigns to address misinformation and disseminate information. In addition, local authorities could flex delivery models to respond to differing local circumstances. For example: ○ The Community Champions scheme, which has supported grassroots action, using trusted local voices to deliver public health messaging and encourage vaccine uptake. The Community Vaccine Champions scheme was launched in December 2021 with a further £22.5 million of funding.28 ○ The targeted community testing programme, which backs local authorities to reach and support disproportionately impacted and underserved groups by delivering hyper-local, targeted asymptomatic testing using innovative and agile approaches that reach into the heart of communities. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the NHS has also accelerated its preventative health programmes which proactively engage those at greatest risk of poorer health outcomes to address health inequalities including better targeting of long-term conditions and prevention programmes such as obesity reduction, tackling smoking and diabetes. The government is determined to tackle healthcare inequality and improve access to health services. Improving public health and wellbeing is a critical part of levelling up, which will improve public health services by enhancing prevention services and reversing health inequalities. The ‘Levelling Up the United Kingdom’ white paper contains further details of how this will be achieved. In March 2022, the government’s response to the report by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities29 ‘Inclusive Britain’30 set out a ground-breaking action plan to 28 £22.5m of funding announced in new community push to get nation boosted now – GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/225m-of-funding-announced-in-new-community-push-to-get- nation-boosted-now) 29 Report of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities – GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-report-of-the-commission-on-race-and-ethnic- disparities) 30 Inclusive Britain: government response to the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities – GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-britain-action-plan-government-response-to- the-commission-on-race-and-ethnic-disparities) tackle negative disparities, promote unity and build a fairer Britain for all. Among the 74 actions in the plan are a number of measures to tackle health disparities.