Does the failure to provide equitable access to treatment lead to action by NHS organisations: the case of biologics for South Asians with inflammatory bowel disease?

Abstract

Aims: The purpose of this study was to identify whether NHS Trusts where discrimination in the delivery of care to patients from the South Asian community had been demonstrated had taken any actions to address the issue over the subsequent year.Methods:   Freedom of information requests were sent to three trusts which had provided evidence of disparate provision of biologic therapy to patients with Crohn’s disease, their associated Clinical Commissioning Groups and Healthwatch organisations to seek evidence they had remedied the situation. Requests were also sent to the Care Quality Commission, NHS Improvement and the Equality and Human Rights Commission seeking examples where they had responded to inequitable delivery of care related to ethnicity.Results: No organisation had any evidence of responses to the situation, many unable to accept its existence.Conclusion: Legal duties are discussed and the only remedy appears to be through the tort of negligence.