improving government service delivery to minority ethnic ... - NCCRI

improving
government
service
delivery
to minority
ethnic groups
Chapter 3: Scotland Research Findings 102_103
197_www.glasgowcity
council.co.uk/healthycities
Telephone:
+44 (0) 141 287 6988.
Case Example 16 – Engagement
Greater Glasgow NHS 197
198_www.glasgow.gov.uk
Telephone:
+44 (0) 141 341 0019. In 2003 NHS Glasgow produced a report “Listening to Communities: Involving People in Health” which
identified the need to build the capacity of the minority ethnic communities to be involved effectively with NHS
Services.
As a result the “Building a Bridge Project” was developed as a partnership between Glasgow Healthy City
Partnership, Greater Glasgow NHS Board, Ethnic Minority Enterprise Centre, NHS Health Scotland, Reid Kerr
College and other interested groups.
The overall aim of the project was to “to enhance Black and Minority Ethnic community involvement in health
promotion agenda through the establishment of a Health Promotion Initiative.”
Central to the project’s strategy was the development of a number of facilitators from the Black and Minority
Ethnic and Refugee communities whose key role was to assist in a two-way communication process between
the Health Board and the communities. This would both improve the provider’s knowledge of community needs
and effective ways of delivering those needs and the communities’ knowledge of the available services.
Fifteen facilitators were recruited and they attended training provided by a local college. An important part of
the training was a placement within a health setting.
Over all the project was successful but there were some useful lessons that were learned:
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Placements in a community setting were more positive experiences than those in an NHS setting.
There was a mismatch of expectations between the placement providers and the facilitators. In some cases
the expectations of the placement providers were higher than the participants were capable of and in some
cases facilitators needed more support than was provided by the placement/ project. This highlighted the
need for clarity of purpose, expectations and roles from the outset.
As a result of the project some of the facilitators found permanent employment within health settings.
Case Example 17 – Education
Translating and Interpreting 198
Glasgow City Council’s Education Department is a partner in the Glasgow Translation and Interpreting Service,
which allows schools access to interpreters free at the point of delivery. The Department also produces a
comprehensive file of standard letters translated into 15 different languages. For major consultation exercises
all documents are translated into the four main languages; Arabic, Chinese, Punjabi and Urdu.