Equality champion to tackle NHS diversity agenda
pharmafile | October 21, 2004 | News story | |Â Â Â
The NHS has engaged its first equality and human rights director to head up its diversity agenda.
Surinder Sharma has been appointed to the new role and brings more than 25 years' experience of working on equality and diversity issues in the public, private and voluntary arenas.
Health Secretary John Reid said: "We have two aims with this appointment. Firstly, to make sure that appropriate services are available to anyone in the population, regardless of their background. Secondly, to ensure that we can draw on the talents, skills and passion of all parts of the community. Surinder is a very experienced professional who will enable us to do this."
Sharma's primary concern will be to promote the chief executive's action plan on leadership and race equality, a role set to encompass tackling inequalities in health and social care delivery.
NHS chief executive Sir Nigel Crisp said: "Equality and diversity need to be explicitly acknowledged and integral to all NHS corporate strategies. Our success in this will be judged not on what we say but on what we do, and I have full confidence that Surinder will put in place processes that will make a real difference."
Sharma said: "I am very pleased to be joining the Department of Health, and am looking forward to helping tackle the challenges the NHS faces in providing better health services to all people in need.
Current, burning issues that need to be addressed include:
- South Asian adult death rates from coronary heart disease being 50% higher than the national average
- Prenatal mortality among Pakistani born mothers being nearly double the UK national average
- African and African-Caribbean people being over six times more likely than the majority of the population to be detained under the Mental Health Act
- Women born in India and East Africa having a 40% higher suicide rate than those born in England and Wales
- Type II diabetes being up to six times more common in South Asian people and up to three times more common in African and African-Caribbean people
Sir Nigel said: "The NHS workforce must reflect the community it serves. It must be trained and equipped to deliver responsive and accessible services for all."
In its The State of Healthcare Report 2004 the Healthcare Commission pledged to put inequalities in healthcare and health at the top of its agenda, after the report found wide variations in both items, across different parts of the country and population groups.
The Commission said it would be vigilant in checking that every citizen receives healthcare according to their needs, regardless of their circumstances and background. This will include ensuring that the NHS identifies why the experience of healthcare varies and what it intends to do to address the inconsistencies in the provision of services.
Sir Ian Kennedy said that solving healthcare inequalities requires partnership between local authorities, schools, healthcare organisations and others. The Healthcare Commission will work with the Audit Commission and other bodies to ensure that all those concerned work towards improving the population health.
"I think that this is an exciting opportunity to deliver Sir Nigel Crisp's action plan, to bring in best practice, engage all our stakeholders and build on and share existing good practice in the NHS," said Sharma.
Sharma joins from Ford Europe, where he was European diversity director. The DH position will be full-time, although he will continue to work on a consultancy basis for Ford next year.
