Labour MPs highlight Eastern Eye investigation into Covid-19 BAME deaths in parliament debate

LABOUR MP Dawn Butler has called on the government to make a concerted effort to “dismantle structural and systemic racism” in society, as she referred to Eastern Eye’s exclusive investigation this week on a lack of BAME leaders in the NHS.

During a Backbench Business Debate on Thursday (18), Butler referred to a statement by British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) president Dr Ramesh Mehta who told Eastern Eye this week that a lack of representation at senior levels in the health service was due to “rampant discrimination” and a “club culture” within the NHS.

---

With a headline titled, “Good enough to die – but not good enough to be leaders”, this week’s Eastern Eye investigates the lack of ethnic minority professionals at NHS trusts in London and other major cities with a substantial BAME population, including Birmingham, Derby and Liverpool.

The newspaper then matched the data with racial inequalities examined by the latest NHS workforce race equality standard (WRES) report and the number of Covid deaths per 100,000 people. It reveals a worrying lack of Asian and black representation and potential for structural racial inequalities.

Eastern Eye found that at Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, of the 13 board members only two are BAME. The trust covers Slough, which is 54 per cent non-white, according to the 2011 Census.

Slough’s Labour MP, Tan Dhesi, lost his grandmother, uncle, and his brother-in-law’s father to coronavirus.

In a separate debate on a similar subject in parliament yesterday (18), Dhesi said, “For me, this is personal. I have lost loved ones to Covid, such as Jagir Kaur, my lovely grandmother, our family matriarch, from whom I learnt so much, but whose coffin I was not even able to carry on my shoulder. Satnam Singh Dhesi, my fun-loving, Slough taxi-driver uncle was taken away from us way too early, and then I had to endure the indignity of watching his funeral online via Zoom. Hemraj Jaymal, my brother-in-law’s father, somehow contracted covid in a Slough care home, and, inexcusably, none of us was there to hold his hand when he breathed his last.”

Dhesi stressed the importance of diversity in healthcare leadership, telling Eastern Eye, “Representation matters because when we have a diversity of thought at the very highest echelons, with their personal knowledge of the black and Asian communities, they would have ensured discussions were had on obesity, diabetes and other health issues and changes implemented.

“So, we could have had a greater concentration on issues affecting BAME communities.

“That’s why we need to change the way things are at the top.”

Eastern Eye also found that in the Midlands and the north of England, at least 13 Trusts have no ethnic minority representation. These include Oldham, Manchester, Derby, Nottingham and Liverpool, all of which have substantial BAME communities.Eastern Eye has been reporting about the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus on ethnic minorities since the outbreak of the pandemic. It has also hosted virtual roundtables with influential Asian healthcare leaders such as the British Medical Association’s chair, Dr Chaand Nagpaul. 

Earlier this month, the newspaper reported that since the government announced a Public Health England (PHE) review on April 16, 17 doctors died, 16 of whom were BAME. Since June 2, when the PHE review was published, an additional 18 doctors died after saving lives, 17 of whom were BAME.

During the parliamentary debate yesterday, Butler, the MP for Brent Central, also noted data showing there is an apparent higher BAME death rate across all grades of the NHS, while the risk of dying among all those diagnosed with Covid-19 is higher in BAME groups than in white ethnic groups.

Following the debate, the MP said: “I am pleased that we were able to debate this vital issue. I made it clear that in order to reverse the disparity in health outcomes then incremental changes are no good, we need to tackle the structural barriers and the institutional racism that we see in society.

Butler highlighted another recent Eastern Eye investigation, about whether minister Kemi Badenoch misled parliament during a debate on PHE’s review into the disproportionately high number of Asian and black people who died from Covid-19.

Asking for Badenoch to apologise on behalf of the government for misleading parliament, Butler said: “Eastern Eye, Channel 4 and Sky have doggedly pursued the issue because something just did not feel right. That is why people have taken to the streets—they are tired of the dishonesty.”

Subscribe to Eastern Eye here: https://www.easterneye.biz/subscription-packages/