Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of health inequalities on outcomes for (a) people with kidney disease from BAME communities, (b) other people with kidney disease and (c) the general population.

We know that black and south Asian people are three to five times more likely to have kidney failure than white people.

The NHS England is under specific legal duties in relation to tackling health inequalities and advancing equality. Regarding kidney disease, the NHS Health Check programme, a universal programme for everyone between the ages of 40-74 years that launched in 2008, assess people’s risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and diabetes. It is estimated that the programme could detect at least 20,000 cases of diabetes or kidney disease earlier, allowing individuals to be better managed and to improve their quality of life.

Local authorities, which are responsible for roll-out of the NHS Health Check in their respective areas, can choose to target high-risk groups, such as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups, to encourage participation in the programme, if appropriate. Guidance and tools for commissioners, clinicians and local authorities on the programme, including case study examples on its application in specific communities, can be found at the following link:

www.healthcheck.nhs.uk

More generally, health and wellbeing boards (HWBs), and the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) process that they oversee, offer valuable opportunities to drive local efforts to reduce inequalities locally, including those in BAME groups. HWBs provide a forum where all commissioners can come together to jointly plan services to meet the needs of local populations. Consideration should be given by HWBs to meeting the Public Sector Equality Duties under the Equality Act 2010 throughout the JSNA process and in the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy that are then produced.