Ethnicity

There can be unfair differences in the health of different ethnic groups, and these inequalities are well studied. When planning and delivering health care, we need to make sure we look after all of the groups in our population. It's important to understand what the differences between different ethnic groups are and what has caused them, so that we can offer the best care to everyone. It also means we know the best way to reach the right people with health promoting information.

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Our resources

Our resources

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.

Gypsy Roma Traveller HNA main report

Appendix A - Interview schedule for stakeholders

External resources

External resources

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.