New research for the Care Quality Commission shows racial disparity in people raising concerns about their care
Research undertaken for the Care Quality Commission as part of their year-long “Declare Your Care” campaign has revealed those from a black and minority ethnic (BME) background are less likely than those from a non-BME background to raise concerns
People from a BME background are unlikely to raise concerns about the standard of care they receive, particularly in relation to mental health.
Findings
- Almost half of BME people with a previous mental health problem (48%) have wanted to raise concerns about mental health services. This is compared to just 13% of non-BME people with a mental health problem.
- 84% of BME people with a mental health problem have also wanted to raise concerns or make complaints about the standard of their care more generally, in comparison to 63% of non-BME people with a mental health problem.
- Reasons highlighted as to why people don’t feed back on their standard of care include not knowing who to raise it with (33%) and not wanting to be a ‘troublemaker’ (33%).
- Additionally, a third of people asked (37%) felt that nothing would be changed by speaking up.
- When people did raise a concern or complaint, the majority (66%) found their issue was resolved quickly, it helped the service to improve or they were happy with the outcome.
- Most people who provided feedback on their care were motivated by a desire to make sure that care improved for others. This included wanting to improve the care they, or a loved one, had received (61%) and improve care for everyone using the service (55%) with a smaller number also hoping for an apology or explanation (26%).
You can read more about this research on the Care Quality Commission's website
