Insight report highlighting ethnic communities' voices on Health and Social Care Services

Healthwatch Leicester and Healthwatch Leicestershire undertook ten engagement events with ethnic minority communities to understand their experience of accessing and using health and social care services.  They spoke to 359 people.

GP access was the top priority as far as these communities were concerned. The key themes from all the group sessions were wanting consistency and being able to see the same doctors, having face-to-face appointments rather than telephone appointments, reductions in the long waiting times on the phone to book an appointment and improved customer service from receptionists. People told us that they were not being heard by their doctor due to time restraints with the doctor, language barriers and having an understanding of the person's condition.

The key theme from the feedback for dentists was the lack of access to NHS dentist services. Most people said it is very difficult to find and register with an NHS dentist and private treatment costs a lot of money. Some people said that they are going back home e.g. to India for their dental treatment because they are unable to see a dentist in England.

The feedback raised about pharmacy services was mostly positive. People attributed this to good quality of service.

People were largely positive about NHS 111, but were concerned about the number of questions call handlers asked and long waits to be called back by a clinician.

The key themes of the feedback for the hospital were waiting time, appointment cancellations, diagnosis of treatment, care and accessibility and reasonable adjustments. Most people say, that getting messages on NHS Apps does not help because they cannot read English, and some people have no smartphone or do not know how to use the digital App system.

People say that there are very long waiting times for urgent and emergency care services before you can be seen, but then they are only getting painkillers. In addition, people have lack of knowledge of the process and trust in the service.

Most people that Healthwatch spoke to in this research said that they do not know what other NHS services are available for them to access and who to contact, for example breast cancer hubs, menopause services and mental health cafes. This is largely due to language barriers.

Mental health services often feel inaccessible and unavailable for the people Healthwatch spoke with for several reasons. There is a significant stigma in many cultures; seeking support for mental health is often associated with being perceived as "mad." Cultural and language barriers prevent people from seeking help.

There is a significant lack of awareness about what menopause is, as it is not commonly discussed in many cultures, leading to a lack of education and openness about the topic.

English is not the first language of most of the people who took part in the research.  People said they often do not have access to interpreters at appointments and the doctors do not always check that they understand what they are being told. Some people said that they felt embarrassed about being an inconvenience due to language barriers and therefore do not ask for support. They also fear complaining because they believe they will not receive help. People are relying on family members to help at appointments which places a burden on their loved ones. Reception staff can be rude due to language issues, avoiding providing the necessary support and making people feel as though they ‘do not matter’.