Reducing inequalities

As part of our commitment to improving access to asthma care for vulnerable and yet-to-reach communities across our region , we helped to secure £ 140,000 of funding from the AAC ’ s Pathway Transformation Funding ( PTF ) to support a project that seeks to better communicate with groups for whom English is not their first language .

Dr Llinos Jones is a Respiratory Consultant at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust , and a key member of the Yorkshire Severe Asthma Network . She runs a Difficult Asthma clinic in an area where up to 20 % of patients are from the South Asian community .

As part of her clinical work , Dr Jones has been able to produce a heatmap to further explore the interdependencies between ethnicity , literacy and respiratory health . By overlaying areas of deprivation in West Yorkshire with high prescribing data by GPs , then enhancing the map and adding ethnic population percentages where English is not the main language , it was clear to see the resulting health inequalities , as well as the areas where there was a higher percentage of problematic or uncontrolled asthma .

One of the main interventions required to break this continual spiral of deprivation and health inequality is the requirement for the patient to understand the literature and information being given to them . There are still huge disparities regarding levels of awareness and understanding of asthma within certain populations , especially for minority communities .

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Alongside the Yorkshire & Humber AHSN who helped me tender the bid , we have set about addressing some of the communication inequalities that contribute to poorer outcomes for those from minority ethnic backgrounds and those with learning difficulties . It ’ s a fantastic development to have secured funding which will go some way in helping us tackle the communication barriers that cause these poor outcomes .”

Dr Llinos Jones , Respiratory Consultant ,

Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

26 Transforming Lives Through Innovation