Ethnicity, Equality of Opportunity and the British National Health Service Routledge Revivals Series

This title was first published in 2002: Numerous reports have identified the serious problems of under-representation of, and discrimination against, minority ethnic groups in the British NHS. It is widely argued that this both raises issues of social justice and undermines the quality of service to minority ethnic patients. Nowhere are these problems more acute than among the largest occupational group in the NHS - nurses. This book reports the results of research carried out for the English National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting to evaluate NHS equal opportunities policy. Drawing on additional original research involving interviews with key policy actors, this fascinating book examines the prospects for a national strategy linking the business and justice cases for the delivery of greater equity in employment and service delivery.

Contents: Introduction; Racism and the British National Health Service; Equal opportunity policy and the NHS; Is the black nurse an endangered species?; Selecting applicants for training in nursing and midwifery; Positive action in recruitment to nursing and midwifery training; Social change and the health care agenda; Policy, politics and health care; Bibliography; Index.

Paul Iganski, David Mason