Ethnicity refers to the group of people an individual identifies with, often based on shared culture, language, religion, or family background (NHS). Across England and in Kent, people from different ethnic backgrounds experience a range of health inequalities. These differences can be influenced by factors such as where people live, how they access health services, and their working conditions, among others (The King's Fund). Evidence shows that reducing inequalities in areas like housing and education, alongside improving understanding of how different ethnic groups use health services, can help reduce these health gaps (NHS).
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Data and reports
Gypsy Roma Traveller Health Needs Assessment
People from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities often have worse health than most other people in England. This is because of:
Poor living and working conditions
Lifestyle behaviours
Not being able to get the right health care
In Kent, there are more Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people than in many other parts of England. But often, these communities are not included when public services are planned. To help fix this, Public Health in Kent County Council carried out a Gypsy, Roma and Travellers Health Needs Assessment (HNA) to update the previous HNA of 2015.
The report shows that these communities still have worse health than others. These health problems happen because Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people often don’t have the same chances to stay healthy as other people. It can also be harder for them to get check-ups, tests, or treatment when they need it. Many people in these communities also face unfair treatment or feel judged, which makes things worse. Also, different ways of understanding health and different beliefs can affect whether people feel they need to see a doctor or use health services.
The report gives ideas on how to make things better. It says that everyone – from big organisations to local services – needs to work together to help improve health for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people. We have done our best to make sure the information in the report is correct at the time of publication.
A number of organisations produce statistics relating to ethnicity and health, both at national and local level.
The OHID Local Health Profiles provide snapshot overviews of health for local areas. They include data on inequalities in emergency hospital admissions by ethnicity.
The KCC Equality and Diversity pages contain information on District populations by ethnic group, country of birth and main language. The KCC area profiles contain ethnicity profiles from the 2021 Census for smaller geographies.
Office for National Statistics (ONS) provide a range of statistics relating to ethnicity, including analysis of people of Roma and Gypsy or Irish Traveller origin.