High-quality data is critical for identifying inequalities in access, experience and outcomes.
Incomplete ethnicity data hides inequalities, and prevents us from understanding ethnic inequalities in access, experience and outcomes, and whether our efforts to improve them are working well.
We are committed to improving the quality of ethnicity data, so that we can take a data-driven approach to reducing healthcare inequalities.
The NHS Ethnicity Recording Improvement Plan sets the case for change and contains targeted actions for providers and ICBs to strengthen the quality, consistency and completeness of ethnicity data recording across the NHS. This includes building staff and patient confidence, proactively identifying and addressing data quality issues, and embedding analysis of ethnic health inequalities into core business.
Ruth Crabtree, Public Health Lead at YAS and National Lead for Public Health for AACE, observes:
Long-standing health inequalities faced by ethnic minority communities result in longer waits for appointments, poorer access to appropriate support, slower recovery times and worse health in later life.
I am delighted to see NHS England’s recently launched ethnicity recording improvement plan highlights the need for better and more high-quality data, together with actions that can be taken to ensure that the people in our communities who are being left behind are no longer hidden and ignored within our datasets.
The plan contains five domains for improvement, to guide targeted action where issues and challenges are identified. You can read it in full here.
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