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

Targeting
For all organisations tasked with providing services, targeting minority ethnic groups brings about new
challenges. One interviewee stated:
“ In Dungannon where a large number of Portuguese arrived overnight with very little
English or access to interpretation services…nothing had been done in preparation,
employers hadn’t done anything either so there were a lot of issues.”
Targeting: Health
All of those interviewed discussed the increase in minority ethnic groups accessing the health service in
Northern Ireland. Consequently, staff at all levels have to deal with people from different cultures, faiths and
nationalities who often have little or no English. Similarly, staff tend not to have foreign language skills. Section
75 has brought with it the “obligation for training” and all of the service provider respondents felt that this
training was essential to equip staff with the skills necessary to provide an appropriate service to minority ethnic
groups. On the whole it was felt that Section 75 had improved service delivery and that the training had meant
that many of the barriers faced by both staff and service users alike were now being dealt with:
“ Section 75 has definitely improved service delivery. Previously there was no legislation
to encourage the building of good relations.
Minority ethnic groups had difficulty accessing services due to the language barrier
– now there are more efforts to inform them of the services available.”
It must however be noted that GPs are not bound by Section 75 and many of the issues raised by NGOs and
people from minority ethnic groups (covered under ‘Views from ethnic minorities’ below) focussed on GP care.
The health trusts all made reference to the fact that their organisation includes the needs of minority groups
and there were specific units responsible for equality/anti racism. The South and East Belfast Health and Social
Services Trust has employed an Ethnic Minority Development Officer who is the link between the Trust and
ethnic minorities. Her role is to help people from ethnic minorities access health care services and to provide
training to health service staff on cultural diversity.
Within the health service it was recognised that different groups have different needs. Communication and
language issues were seen to be major barriers for minority ethnic groups when accessing health and social
services. One interviewee highlighted that dissemination of information was problematic:
“ Each country has a different system for accessing health services and it is difficult to
know how to disseminate information…”
Northern Ireland does have a Regional Interpreting Service for health care staff to access, this service, up
until recently was not operating 24 hours a day seven days a week. Whilst many interviewed recognised the
value of this service the lack of an out of hours facility at the time posed problems and meant that other private
interpreting services had to be accessed. However since 30th January 2006 the Regional Interpreting Service
has commenced operating an Out of Hours facility from 5pm-9am at weekends and on public holidays.