Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that hospitals and other healthcare providers in England follow NHS England guidelines to (1) risk assess, and (2) redeploy where possible, BAME staff who are working on the COVID-19 frontline; and what assessment they have made of the implantation of those guidelines.

Guidance for all black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) colleagues working in the National Health Service has been published online by NHS England. This is in addition to information from NHS Employers on COVID-19 and the prioritisation and management of risk, including ethnicity.

NHS England will be sharing a framework of resources to support systems, trusts, commissioners and primary care teams to implement the actions listed in their online blog post, ‘A note for all BAME colleagues working in the NHS’. We would expect all NHS trusts to follow and take account of any guidance that is issued and to disseminate it as appropriate to the relevant departments or clinical areas to action and take forward as necessary.

Public Health England’s review will analyse available data on health outcomes for NHS staff, to develop a better understanding of how the virus affects frontline workforce.