Background
In 2006, we commissioned some research into Londoners’
perceptions of their ambulance service.
Some of the findings identified that within specific communities
there was a lower level of satisfaction with us. It was
highlighted that Bangladeshi people were the least satisfied with
the service we provide and we felt it was incredibly important to
find out the reasons why.
Acting on our findings, we started a project involving the
Bangladeshi community in Tower Hamlets. We decided a joint approach
would be much more effective and involved staff at the London
Hospital and at Tower Hamlets Primary Care Trust.
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Key issues
During our planning we identified a number of issues:
- The Bangladeshi community had a low level of understanding
about health issues.
- They also had a low level of understanding about what NHS
services were available to them.
- We had very low numbers of Bangladeshi staff working with
us.
- There was little in the way of informal relationships between
our staff and the Bangladeshi community.
We were keen to set up ongoing programmes of work rather than
one-off events which were targeted at specific groups:
- Women, particularly those accessing maternity services
(building on earlier work, which indicated that Bangladeshi women
do not always find it easy to access ante-natal care).
- Children and young people, either through schools or youth
groups.
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Our objectives
- To increase access to services for pregnant women, and to lower
infant mortality in this population.
- To increase the number of Bangladeshi people from Tower Hamlets
recruited to our service or on the waiting list.
- To improve opportunities for informal contact between us and
the community.
- To increase our knowledge and understanding about the
Bangladeshi community.
- To obtain feedback from people who participate in our training
sessions and other activities, leading to further engagement and
involvement.
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Progress so far
- One of our staff has developed a training programme for women
attending ante-natal care at local children's centres.
- We worked with Tower Hamlets Primary Care Trust to design a
health education pack called ‘Get
the Right Treatment’. This involves training sessions with
front-line staff and members of the community throughout Tower
Hamlets. A DVD with a number of health scenarios supports these
sessions, and then participants discuss which service is
appropriate in each of the circumstances.
‘Get the Right Treatment’ won the regional
Health & Social Care Awards in 2008.
- We are working with schools in Tower Hamlets to find
ways to engage children and young people in the area, using
drama, skills training and sport.
- We are focusing on providing information on health promotion
and access to NHS services, basic life-support training, and
recruitment opportunities. It is also a chance for us to develop
informal relationships with people from the Bangladeshi community
and to listen to their views and experiences.
- We are supporting ambulance staff in the Tower Hamlets area to
have Bengali lessons.
- We hope that, rather than being a series of unconnected
projects, this work will sow the seeds for ongoing engagement work
in this area.
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