Source · Select Committees · Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 20
20
Paragraph: 133
It is clear from the evidence collected by Government, the NHS and other organisations that...
Recommendation
It is clear from the evidence collected by Government, the NHS and other organisations that staff from Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic in a way that has shone a light on deeply worrying divisions in society. Both the Public Health England and BAME Communities Advisory Group reports set out a series of actions to address this problem. We recommend that the Department set out how it plans to implement those recommendations, with a corresponding timeframe.
Paragraph Reference:
133
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
4.25 The Minister for Equalities, Kemi Badenoch MP, has been leading cross- government work to address the findings of the PHE report (June 2020) on Covid-19: review of disparities and risks in outcomes, which highlighted the disproportionate impacts of covid-19 on ethnic minority groups. On 22 October 2020 she published her first quarterly progress report to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. This concluded that a range of socio-economic and geographical factors coupled with pre-existing health conditions were contributing to the higher infection and mortality rates for ethnic minority groups, with a part of the excess risk remaining unexplained for some groups. 4.26 The second quarterly progress report, published on 26 February 2021, looks in more detail at the causes of excess risk among ethnic minority groups. A significant development since the first quarterly report is the approval and roll out of COVID-19 vaccines. The Government published its UK COVID-19 vaccine uptake plan on 13 February 2021, highlighting a range of barriers to uptake and some of the work being undertaken across government and at a local level to minimise the impact of these. The government invested a further £4.5 million in research looking at the health, social, cultural and economic impacts of COVID-19 on ethnic minority groups. It also provided £23.75 million funding to 60 local authorities and voluntary sector grassroots initiatives through the MHCLG Community Champions scheme, drawing upon trusted voices in the community to combat misinformation and vaccine hesitancy, and sharing lessons learned from this initiative with local authorities. 4.27 The third progress report was published on 25 May 2021. The report summarised work across government and through national and local partnerships, to improve vaccine uptake among ethnic minorities. It included measures to support vaccinations during Ramadan, extending the use of places of worship as vaccination centres to around 50 different venues with many more acting as pop-up sites, delivering out of hours clinics, outreach into areas of lower uptake and encouraging family group vaccinations for those living in multi-generational homes who may be at increased risk of contracting and transmitting COVID-19 infection. 4.28 The report also summarised progress with the Community Champions scheme that was launched in January, outlining activity across the 60 local authorities that received funding through this scheme. By the end of the first month, there were over 2,000 individual Community Champions working on the programme, who were playing a vital role in combatting misinformation and driving vaccine uptake. 4.29 In June 2020, DHSC published a COVID-19 adult social care workforce risk reduction framework to support employers to sensitively discuss and manage specific risks to their staff – including risk by ethnicity, age, sex and underlying health conditions. 4.30 The Equality and Human Rights Commission launched an inquiry into racial inequality in health and social care workplaces across England, Scotland and Wales. It will also include wider reflections and learnings from the Covid-19 outbreak. The evidence and outcomes of this Inquiry will further our understanding of the current experiences and barriers faced by ethnic minority staff and support future direction setting. 4.31 With regard to the COVID-19 vaccine, black or black British adults had the highest rates of vaccine hesitancy (18%) compared with White adults (4%). We recognise the importance of raising awareness of the benefits of vaccination within minority ethnic groups who are known to be more at risk from COVID-19. We have met with faith leaders and the Moral and Ethical Advisory Group (MEAG), on COVID-19 immunisation and sought consideration of how best to clearly communicate about the benefits of the vaccine. 4.32 On 13 February 2021, we published the UK COVID-19 vaccines delivery plan, setting out the significant programme of work underway to drive