Public Health England Review: Covid-19 Disparities

Lord Scriven Excerpts

Monday 8th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education and Department for International Trade (Baroness Berridge) (Con) [V]]

My Lords, it is important that we understand the various drivers of the disparities and the relationship between different risk factors. It has been accepted that the report has some limitations; for example, the ethnicity analysis does not adjust for factors such as comorbidities such as underlying health conditions of hypertension and obesity. It is imperative that we do the next stage of looking at the data and the connections to ensure that we fill in the gaps of understanding and developing new policies so that we act on a proper and scientific basis; otherwise, we risk making matters worse, which no one would want us to do.

[Lord Scriven (LD) [V]]

New research today shows that more than half of pregnant women in hospital in the UK with coronavirus complications are from a black, Asian or minority ethnic background. Will the Minister commit to an urgent investigation into this?

[Baroness Berridge [V]]

My Lords, all aspects that are affecting black and minority ethnic people will be looked into by the Minister for Equalities. The Equalities Hub is now the central point to look at these matters. Action has been taken in relation to making sure that employers are risk assessing, including when employees are pregnant and could be at higher risk from the virus.