Racial Discrimination Puts the Lives of Cancer Patients at Risk in England’s Hospitals

Despite the global efficiency of the UK health care system, a recent report published on August 28, 2022, revealed shocking results linked to the spread of racism and racial discrimination within the National Health Service (NHS) in England.

A careful review of data from 126,000 cancer patients over a decade between 2006 and 2016 found that Black and Asian patients had to wait longer during diagnoses for six of the seven cancers studied than White patients.

The report also stressed that the sediments of racism, superiority, and racial discrimination are prevalent among many segments of British society and White people.

 

Racial Discrimination

Joint research prepared by The Guardian with the University of Exeter, one of the best British universities, revealed that the NHS suffers from racial inequality in providing health care to cancer patients, sometimes putting their lives at risk or even death.

The average time between symptoms of cancer for a White person is 55 days, for Asians it is 60 days (9% longer), and for Black people it takes 61 days (11% longer).

Recent research has shown that the period of time that Black people and Asians have to wait until they are diagnosed with the most common type of cancer in England is up to an additional six weeks compared to White people.

This discrepancy is even more surprising for certain types of cancer. For esophageal cancers, it took Whites 53 days to get a diagnosis, while Asians waited 100 days, six weeks longer.

For myeloma, the average waiting time for White people was 93 days, but for Black people, the waiting time was 127 days, which is over a month.

Meanwhile, the average wait for a diagnosis of breast cancer for White women was 43 days, compared with a waiting time of 73 days for Black women, which puts them at higher risk of advanced breast cancer and, therefore, lower survival.

The Guardian pointed out that delays in diagnosis may mean fewer treatment options, reducing the chances of survival compared to early diagnoses, about which awareness campaigns have increased in recent decades with the aim of maximizing the chances of recovery.

The review covered the four most common cancers of lung, breast, prostate, and colon, as well as three common in ethnic minorities: esophageal, myeloma, and ovarian.

The UK health care system supervisors described these results as extremely worrying and totally unacceptable in a health system recognized for its global efficiency.

Previous research has already shown that ethnic minority patients have worse outcomes when it comes to some types of cancer in Britain and are less likely to report positive healthcare experiences.

Today, around three million people live with cancer in the UK, and by 2025 this number will rise to 3.5 million.

 

Bad Health Care

On the reasons for this phenomenon, which the joint research described as dangerous, Michelle Mitchell, CEO of Cancer Research UK, says: "Racial differences are unlikely to be the only explanation for the inequality in cancer survival. However, extended waiting times can cause additional stress, and even morbid anxiety among ethnic minorities."

"More efforts are urgently needed to understand and address the drivers of inequality across the country," she added.

He called on the next prime minister to take serious measures and to make cancer a priority so that early diagnosis would be available to everyone and not to one group without the other.

In turn, Jaber Butt, CEO of the Race Equality Foundation, said: "These results are very worrying but unfortunately not surprising. We urgently need to address these underlying factors that prevent Black and Asian patients from having a fair chance when it comes to fighting cancer."

Dr. Tanimola Martins, a researcher at the University of Exeter, said: "The data presented helps explain why ethnic minorities have poor outcomes for some cancers, and worse healthcare experiences reported."

"We urgently need to understand the reason for this health situation for the Black and Asian groups," he added.

The British government and the NHC Authority have promised more than once to address racial inequality, especially after the publication of many research reports directly condemning the government's handling of this matter.

Several previous research indicated that Black people, for example, were at much greater risk of complications from Covid-19 and death after infection with it than Whites.

Many researchers criticized the ease with which some medical staff analyzes this phenomenon and merely promote genetic or racial explanations, such as saying that vitamin D is an important element in preventing injury and preventing complications and death and that black-skinned people do not absorb enough sunlight, noting that "genetic factors are rarely a major factor in the high incidence of any diseases or complications and death."

These easy-going explanations contribute to inequality while ignoring deep research into the causes of this phenomenon to find solutions and narrowing the gap between Whites and ethnic minorities in access to health care in the UK.

Another study published years ago indicated that Black women in the UK are four times more likely to die during pregnancy and childbirth compared to White women.

The study came in conjunction with Ockenden's investigation into the NHS scandals and poor maternal and childcare services.

The investigation found at least 304 cases at Shrewsbury Hospital and Telford Hospital that were not properly handled, showing the health sector's bias against women of Asian and Arab descent and of dark skin in particular.

 

Rampant Phenomenon

The UK health sector is currently experiencing an unprecedented crisis and a massive shortage of medical equipment and the number of staff, administrators, and specialists.

The numbers and data received raise doubly worrying, which means more inequality against many segments of society.

The health sector crisis today constitutes an essential part of racism. The Coronavirus pandemic, for example, has paralyzed the absorptive capacity of hospitals and clinics and has led to a significant shortening of the speed of diagnosis of diseases and the provision of cancer patients, in particular, with chemical doses and medicines designated for them.

This makes minorities whose diseases were not diagnosed early for racial reasons subject to additional delays, the causes of which this time are related to a large deficit in the health sector, from which all groups and groups suffer equally.

The health sector is also not immune to the high cost of living crisis in Britain, from which millions are currently suffering.

Recently, many doctors sent a distress call to the government, fearing additional shortfalls could be caused by this winter's energy bills, which are set to rise by 80%.

Cold, hunger, anxiety, and epidemics are expected to increase hospital burdens in the coming months, and the most vulnerable are likely to pay the price.

"Everyone counts" is a slogan that the NHS constantly reminds us of and pledges to ensure that health services are distributed equitably to all without discrimination and with equal importance and respect.

However, the reality is that actions do not necessarily reflect these slogans, especially since some experts see the problem of racism and unequal policies as a general crisis that extends beyond the health sector and extends to the police and the criminal justice system.

In addition, the laws issued by the Ministry of Interior, for example, to enhance security and combat violence, are exploited by many police officers to exercise their authority over the weaker segments.

All these statistics indicate that the Black community is subjected to extortion, harassment, and bullying during security operations much more than the White community.

A study published by the Race and Health Observatory also concluded that "minorities in the UK generally delay or avoid seeking medical help altogether in anticipation of a repeat of their previous experience of racism by health professionals."

It remains that the health sector, during the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, turned into the front lines of defense, and its workers made great sacrifices, and the British are still grateful for them, which hinders the demands aimed at reforming this sector, and sympathy for it has become nationally and nationally without conditions.