20 July 2023
The Scottish Government is establishing a community of practice on racialised inequalities in health and social care. It is to be jointly administered by Public Health Scotland’s Inclusion Health Team and the government’s Racialised Health Inequalities in Health and Social Care and Health Equity team.
Over the next 12 months there will be a focus on learning what structural racism is, how it manifests in health and social care and the impact it has on the health and experience of people from minority ethnic groups. This may include unlearning bad practice and assumptions that health inequalities are about individuals’ choices, culture or biology
Because the root causes of poor health lie largely outside the health system, whole-system action is required to address these systemic inequalities. The Scottish Government’s Care & Wellbeing Portfolio has added a commitment to tackling racism, discrimination, and their outcomes as one of eight policy objectives underpinning its work. The government also committed to establishing Scotland’s first Anti-Racism Observatory, as recommended by the Expert Reference Group on Covid-19 and Ethnicity.
The government is looking for people to join the community if they:
- are working in Scotland within health and social care policy or service delivery, or within relevant fields within academia, the third or community sector;
OR - are an expert in anti-racism, dismantling systemic racism, or have experience of racism or racialisation, especially within a health and social care context.
If you are interested in joining, please email HealthEquity@gov.scot briefly stating your background and/or expertise and your specific areas of interest relating to the aims and objectives of the community.
Please also read the Terms of Reference here: Community of Practice on addressing racialised inequality in health and social care – ToR
