Race Equality in UK Healthcare: An Analysis of the Equality Act 2010

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This report examines race equality in UK healthcare.

“We are all equal before the law”.
To what extent is this common statement about the law
reflected in practice.
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Executive Summary
Healthcare practices are subjected to a diverse variety of individual’s communities and races.
The laws that are practiced by health care organizations pertain to different legal compliances.
The aim of report is to elucidate an understanding on the Equality Law 2010 in operation in the
society. An area of discrimination will be assessed that would relate to the healthcare practices.
The area of ‘race equality’ will be analysed with respect to the society in UK. Ethnic diversity
would be clearly illustrated related to the health care society. The laws and legal framework will
be analysed for the better understanding of equity measures undertaken by the UK society.
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Comprehension of the conventions in report writing in human services........................................4
Research Controversy and the law: Area of discrimination relating to the law and a social group
in UK society...................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
Reference List..................................................................................................................................8
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Introduction
The aim of the report is to give an outline on the legal framework of the English legal system and
their impact on the healthcare organizations. It will state an effective understanding of the
statement ‘we are all equal before law’ and their relevance in the health care practice.
Comprehension of the conventions in report writing in human services
The English legal system comprises of a body of rules and regulations that govern the functions
of the society in the UK (Zander, 2015). Laws relating to the health care practices provide the
citizens with safety and wellbeing. These laws are Health and Social Care Act, 2012, Equality
Act, 2012, Social Value Act 2012 and so on. The statement ‘we are all equal before law’ has
relevance in the UK society. Human rights form an important constituent in the health care
organizations. Conventions are primary while incorporating an understanding on writing topics
related to human services. These include a critical knowledge of laws and legal compliances
relating to healthcare (Wallace, 2016).
In the formulation of a report, one should take into account basic ethical considerations.
Application of laws and anti-oppressive practices are analysed as per society and their outlook on
health care. Marginalization in health practices stem into ethnic equity and racial discrimination.
Legal policies stemming from the white paper entitled ‘Immigration from the Commonwealth’
explicitly reflects inequalities in healthcare society. The laws that pertain to maintenance of
equality comprises of equality in, sex, race, religion, sexual preferences, disabilities and gender
reassignment. Promotion of equality and comprehensive outlook on the social services creates a
viable outlook for the citizens. The report is subjected to development in its content integrating
‘racial equality’. Ethnic inequalities limit the growth of diversity in healthcare organizations.
Society in the UK is subjected to social and economic disadvantages with racial oppression.
Growth in the black and minority ethnic suffer much regression than compared to ‘white British
leaders. An exploration into the response of society and implications of law relating to ethnic
inequalities will be succinctly discussed. It is vital to abide by the conventions while formulating
a report on human services. These conventions are a product of an intricate development of
content related to health care practices.
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The UK society comprises of different ethnicities of individuals, with 87% white, 13% black,
Asian and mixed individuals. Ethnic minorities in the UK are subjected to prejudices from
society in form of employment income and so on. Equality plays a pivotal role while catering to
these social injustices. Controversies regarding the racial oppression stem into poor health
outcomes for the individuals of the society. An increase in the ‘health disadvantage’ is noticed
among ethnic minorities subjected to poor health outcomes.
Therefore, the society in UK is tolerant when it comes to use of racial equality. Legal laws
pertaining to equal rights of different ethnicities are practiced as per legal rules. Every patient of
different ethnicities is given equal treatment. The National Health Service (NHS) maintains the
growth of individuals with policy directives. These directives comprise of utilization of ‘NHS:
Ethnic Health Unit, 1996’ and special initiatives. These initiatives comprise of utilization of
Race for Health 2006, Personal Fair and Diverse 2010, and Equality Delivery System (Salway et
al., 2016). With the use of these activities, unfair treatment is prohibited in health care
institutions. The wide apparent disconnect between national commitments are looked after by
central government. Therefore, laws are formulated as per health policies and directives.
Research Controversy and the law: Area of discrimination relating to the law and a social
group in UK society
The term’ ethnic minorities’ emphasize on cultural and religious attributes prevalent in the UK.
Discrimination and the boost in anti-oppressive practices have provided disadvantages in
healthcare institutes. The policy of the UK documentation relates’ racism’ as discrimination of
different ethnics. Social and economic inequalities underpin growth of social inequalities. Black
and minority ethnics (BME) are exposed to poor treatment when compared to white British
individuals (Usfhealthonline.com, 2019). Lack of authentic resources, no knowledge about usage
of services long hours of appointment creates difficulty in social services. The issues of
nationalistic issues stem into inequalities in treatment of patients from different background.
Racial Discrimination is a product of socio-economic disadvantage and results in harassment.
Negative health outcomes are reported in the individuals from black communities. Verbal abuse
and assault have been witnessed across these different ethnic cultures. This results in growth of
negative outlook and attitude towards life. Controversies pertaining to racism in the UK have
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been and prevented proper treatment of patients. The adoption of the equality law has helped in
protection of freedom in citizens. Health care organizations value the equity laws and embrace
different diversity and group of individual. Diversity in the confines of healthcare is witnessed in
patients and workers from different groups.
The formulation of the Equality Law in the UK was beneficial in replacing the anti-
discrimination law in healthcare society. This law was a combined product of age, marriage,
disability, gender belief sexual preferences and so on. The statement ‘we are all equal before
law’ is applicable in the healthcare units. The values of the citizens are acknowledged in the
industry. The different types of law such as Social Value Act 2012, incorporates medical
authorities embedded with creation of social values. The medical laws such as public health laws
are regulated for betterment of the society (Zwitter, 2019). As per the perspective of English
legal system, there are a body of rules and regulations pertaining to social healthcare institutions.
The integration of Health and Social Care Act 2012 emphasizes on duties health regulatory
bodies. Discrimination can stem in the form of victimization, harassment, indirect and direct
harassment (Usfhealthonline.com, 2019). This was reduced by equality in terms and measures of
different categories related to healthcare. Healthcare organizations are affected by the
discrimination in workplace as per regulation of health data. Health laws are particularly
governed by federal state. The intervention of UK law and medicine are interrelated. Prevalence
of the Equality Act has an impact on long-term impact on protection of individuals.
The right of citizens and patients in the UK with equal treatment and preferences are reflected
through use of equality law. Employment is permissible to all groups of ethnic diversities.
Therefore, the statement ‘we are all equal before law’ is practiced in health care (Bruno and
Rose, 2019). There are forums for the Black and Ethnic minority doctors that pertain to the case
(Bouchet-Saulnier, 2019). Medical education is no longer prohibited in the institutions.
Legislative laws and duties are practiced in the organizations. Encompassing the diverse ethnic
groups, the anti-oppressive and racial prejudices are kept at bay. The BME doctors practicing in
UK are not succumbed to any degrading states and conventions (Gmc-uk.org, 2019).There are
policies and directives that pertain to development of areas related to social care. Therefore, the
prevalence of law and society is practiced in a wider context related to health care.
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The characteristics of the UK law takes into account the factors associated with social practices.
Therefore, these are prohibited with the adoption of practices related to growth in companies.
Health laws such as Sex Discrimination Act 1975, Human Rights Act 1998, and Disability Act
2001 Race Relations Act 2000 focus on use of equality (Dalrympel and Burke, 2006). Equality
is maintained for the patients that seek medical treatment in the UK. This is useful as it
contributes to prevention of health care unfair treatment to patients. Unfair treatment can be
reduced through integration of different policies (Partington, 2013).
Therefore, the UK society has been addressing these factors related to the growth of medical
companies. Legislations set by the UK government have challenged the racial prejudices faced
by black and other ethnic societies (Falk, 2019). Law is an instrumental tool applicable in form
of medical practice in health care organization. It is significant, as it leads to better working
conditions of the mental care services (Dewey, 2019). With the onset of postmodern critical
approaches, there has been integration in broader vision of anti-oppressive links. The threshold
of the maintenance of social justices in healthcare is done through use of maintenance of medical
records of health directive policies.
Conclusion
Health care organizations adopt the use of equity laws for the provision of better services to the
individuals. The social conventions and the laws in UK are controversial and have an impact on
the individuals. There are laws that have been covered in relation to ‘race equality’ in the UK
society. Equality has been taken into consideration with formulation of effective laws like Social
Value Act 2012, Health and Social Care Act 2012 and so on.
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Reference List
Bouchet-Saulnier, F., 2019. International law for healthcare workers. Oxford Handbook of
Humanitarian Medicine, p.173.
Bruno, B. and Rose, S., 2019. Patient organizations and conflict of interest.
Dalrymple, J. and Burke, B., 2006. Anti-oppressive practice: Social care and the law. McGraw-
Hill Education (UK).
Dewey Lambert, P. and Sonke, J., 2019. Professionalizing Arts Management in Healthcare
Facilities. The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, pp.1-16.
Falk, R., 2019. Global Law. In The Oxford Handbook of Global Studies.
Gmc-uk.org. (2019). Equality, diversity and inclusion. [online] Available at: https://www.gmc-
uk.org/about/how-we-work/equality-and-diversity [Accessed 8 Apr. 2019].
https://www.usfhealthonline.com/resources/healthcare/important-laws-and-regulations-in-health-
informatics/ [Accessed 8 Apr. 2019].
Partington, M. (2013) Introduction to the English Legal System, Oxford, Oxford University Press
Salway, S., Mir, G., Turner, D., Ellison, G.T., Carter, L. and Gerrish, K., 2016. Obstacles to
“race equality” in the English National Health Service: Insights from the healthcare
commissioning arena. Social Science & Medicine, 152, pp.102-110.
Usfhealthonline.com. (2019). [online] Available at:
Wallace, S., Nazroo, J. and Bécares, L., 2016. Cumulative effect of racial discrimination on the
mental health of ethnic minorities in the United Kingdom. American Journal of Public
Health, 106(7), pp.1294-1300
Zander, M. (2015) The Law-Making Process, 7th edition, Oxford, Hart Publishing
Zwitter, M., 2019. Ethics and Law. In Medical Ethics in Clinical Practice (pp. 1-5). Springer,
Cham.
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