Ethnicity and health: Initiatives to address health inequalities between ethnic groups

The DH-sponsored Improving Health Among Ethnic Minority Populations Initiative built on earlier work by the NHS Ethnic Health Unit. The aim was to support a small number of local projects each of which could demonstrate that their work would:

	Embed ethnic minority health into mainstream health care delivery;
	Extract and disseminate knowledge to facilitate improvements in access to health services for ethnic minority groups;
	Change practice in line with what is already known from research and development.

Outputs are available from several of the projects funded by this initiative.

One of the projects, Project Dil, was based in Leicester and aimed to:

	Improve knowledge and understanding about coronary heart disease amongst the South Asian Community.
	Improve primary and secondary prevention of CHD through improving appropriate interventions at the appropriate general practices.

The London Health Observatory report on Ethnic Disparities in Health and Health Care includes a range of examples of innovations in service delivery, ways of addressing discrimination and the lack of cultural sensitivity in service delivery, and other good practice in service provision for minority ethnic groups. It provides a rich source of information and ideas for development work in the East Midlands.

East Midlands PCTs were asked to provide details of relevant local initiatives. Collated responses are attached as Appendix 4.

In North Derbyshire, the health and social care community are developing a joint Strategy to meet the Health and Social Care Needs of Black and Minority Ethnic Communities in North Derbyshire (to follow, contact Sandra Johnson on 01246 231255 or email: ).