Latest news with #GraceAdebowale
Telegraph
20 hours ago
- Health
- Telegraph
NHS boss claims Nigerian mother got the ‘black service'
An NHS boss has claimed his Nigerian mother received the 'black service, not an NHS service' after dying from suspected lung cancer. Lord Victor Adebowale, chairman of the NHS Confederation, which represents all health organisations, said the death of his 92-year-old mother was 'undignified'. His mother Grace, who worked as an NHS nurse for 45 years, died in January, possibly from lung cancer, but it was not detected until after she died. Lord Victor said there were 'too many situations where people that look like me and shades of me don't get the service'. 'It was not the dignified death that we would have wanted for her. It wasn't the death she deserved,' he told the NHS ConfedExpo conference in Manchester. 'So it makes me clear about the need to address the inequity. I think she got a black service, not an NHS service.' Mrs Adebowale emigrated from Nigeria to Scotland in the 1950s and worked as a nurse across mental health, maternity and acute care, during her career. Lord Victor, who grew up in Wakefield, said that he did not want to blame anyone for her death as the details were not yet clear, but he said that he wanted to highlight a 'systematic problem'. 'She lived to the age of 92 and you may think, 'well, she had a good old innings', but for a lot of those years she was in some discomfort, and it looks like she died from cancer,' he said. 'It's still the case that if you look like me, you're more likely to discover that you've got cancer in A&E, and that for me is an example of two different services.' 'Black people have worse outcomes' He added: 'I used the phrase 'black service'... you only have to look at the stats – across all the major disease categories that we talk about, black people have a worse experience and worse outcomes – we've known that for years, I'm not saying anything new.' He said his mother was an example of a wider issue and he was 'sick of it not changing like everyone else, and I'm close enough to it to know that it happens'. He said there was nothing in his mother's medical records to suggest she had cancer, and that she had gone to A&E in 'poor condition' at a hospital that 'was really struggling when she went in'. Lord Victor said his sister had to argue for their mother to be given a room but that they had not found the reason for her death yet. 'We haven't got to the bottom of it, and that's why I'm not blaming anybody, and I don't want to, but I can talk about my experience and my observation of what happened to my mum,' he said. 'How does that happen? I know it does happen. People have chronic diseases and people don't know and they die of them – I know it's more likely to happen if you're black, it's also more likely to happen if you're poor.' Of his mother, whose full name was Grace Amoke Owuren Adebowale, and who worked in various nursing sectors including mental health, acute care and maternity, he said: 'If you are a nurse, it is what you are, it's what you're born to do.' He went on: 'It is not acceptable that someone who looks like me, on average waits 20 minutes longer in A&E than white patients.' Kate Seymour, head of external affairs at Macmillan Cancer Support, said the story highlighted 'the heartbreaking reality for some when it comes to accessing cancer care in this country'. 'It is categorically unacceptable that some people with cancer are having worse experiences simply because of who they are or where they live. The Government in England has a unique opportunity in its upcoming cancer plan to revolutionise cancer care,' she said. An NHS spokesperson said: 'Everyone – no matter their background – should receive the best NHS care possible. 'That's why we are working across the NHS to ensure that happens – from improving access to cancer diagnosis and treatment, to expanding health checks for Black and Asian communities and increasing uptake of blood pressure and cholesterol medication in under-served groups. 'But we know there is much more to do, and tackling health inequalities will form an important part of the upcoming 10 Year Health Plan.'
BBC News
a day ago
- Health
- BBC News
I'm an NHS leader - but my mum still suffered at hands of the health service
A senior NHS leader has criticised the health service, saying his mother received a "black service, not an NHS service" as she Victor Adebowale, chair of the NHS Confederation, which represents health managers, described his mother Grace's death as "undignified".The 92-year-old died in January of suspected lung cancer, although it was not detected until after her Adebowale said his mother's missed diagnosis, combined with the sub-standard care she received when admitted to hospital for the final time, had left his family upset and searching for peer, who was also on the board of NHS England for six years, believes his mother's experience illustrates wider problems. "My mum would have wanted me to tell her story because she is not the only one who will have faced these problems."Lord Adebowale said he would not call the NHS racist, but instead believed it was riven with inequalities, particularly racial inequalities."It's the inverse care law. The people most in need of health and care are the least likely to get it - if you are black, if you are poor, if you are elderly and poor, there are inequalities in the system and people like my mum suffer."The intervention by such a figure is significant. Lord Adebowale has held senior health roles for more than two decades and also helped establish the NHS Race and Health Observatory in 2021 to try to tackle inequalities experienced by black and minority ethnic patients in England said it was working to improve access to services and tackle inequalities, which would form an "important part" of the 10-year health plan, expected to be published next month.A spokesperson added: "Everyone - no matter their background - should receive the best NHS care possible. But we know there is much more to do."A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care echoed those comments, adding: "Our deepest sympathies are with Lord Adebowale for the loss of his mother." A committed, caring nurse Lord Adebowale's mother, who had three other children, emigrated to the UK in the 1950s from Nigeria and went on to work as a nurse in hospitals, the community and mental health describes her as a caring, compassionate and intensely committed nurse. "She believed in the health service. It's people like her who help build the NHS, but, when she needed it, it wasn't there as it should have been."She had dementia and in the final five or six years was in regular contact with the health service. We cannot understand why she did not get a [cancer] diagnosis. She was in discomfort and pain – and had been for some time. "She never got any treatment for cancer – it was only after she died we learnt she had lung cancer."That was found during a post-mortem and subsequent tests have suggested that was the likely cause of her death, he Adebowale added that when his mother was taken to hospital the final time it was not easy to find her a bed. "The hospital was under intense pressure. She did not want to die in hospital in that sort of situation." Symbolic of wider problem Lord Adebowale is not naming the NHS service involved in her care, saying he does not want to apportion individual blame, as his mother's experience was symbolic of a wider problem."I just think there are too many situations where people that look like me and shades of me don't get the service they deserve. It was not the dignified death that we would have wanted for her. It wasn't the death she deserved."I think she got a black service, not an NHS service."Lord Adebowale, who for nearly 20 years was chief executive of Turning Point, a care organisation that supports people with substance misuse and mental health problems alongside those with learning disabilities, before becoming chair of the NHS Confederation in 2019, said there were multiple examples of inequalities in the health highlighted research showing younger black people waited 20 minutes longer on average in A&E than white also showed people from the poorest backgrounds were more likely to face year-long waits for routine studies have suggested people from deprived communities are 50% more likely to have cancer diagnosed after a visit to A&E – such diagnoses are more likely to be at a later stage when chances of survival are said while the promise of extra money for the health service made in this week's spending review was welcome, that alone would not tackle the inequalities."It a systematic problem – I don't want to blame any particular individual or my mum's local NHS. "What happened to her could happen anywhere. We need to address inequalities in the health service and that requires leadership – not just money."
The Guardian
a day ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Senior health figure accuses NHS of racism over care given to dying mother
A senior figure in the health service has criticised it for deep-seated racism after his mother 'got a black service, not an NHS service' before she died. Victor Adebowale, the chair of the NHS Confederation, claimed his mother Grace's lung cancer went undiagnosed because black people get 'disproportionately poor' health service care. The NHS's failure to detect her cancer while she was alive shows that patients experience 'two different services', based on the colour of their skin, Adebowale said. His mother, Grace Amoke Owuren Adebowale, a former NHS nurse, died in January aged 92. He highlighted her care and death during his speech this week at the NHS Confederation's annual conference as an example of 'persistent racial inequalities in NHS services'. His remarks prompted fresh concern about the stark differences between the care received by those from black and other ethnic minority backgrounds and white people. 'My mum, who worked for many years as a nurse, died earlier this year at the age of 92. It was difficult. It was not the dignified death that we would have wanted for her,' Adebowale told an audience of NHS bosses. 'It wasn't the death she deserved. So it makes me clear about the need to address the inequity. I think she got a black service, not an NHS service.' He castigated the NHS for not having done enough to improve care for black patients, despite mounting evidence of their much higher risk of poorer outcomes, including dying. Referencing 'the experiences that people who look like me continue to receive', he added: 'It just hasn't got any better. It is not acceptable that someone who looks like me on average waits 20 minutes longer in A&E than white patients.' Speaking to journalists afterwards, Adebowale said: 'Why did I do it [refer to his mother's 'black service']? Because I'm sick of it not changing, like everybody else. My mum, I think, God bless her, I think she would have wanted me to say it. '[I am sick of] the disproportionately poor services that too many poor people and too many black people experience – that's what I'm sick of. 'You only have to look at the stats. You just see the stats across all the major disease categories we talk about. Black people have a worse experience and worse outcomes. We've known that for years. I'm not saying anything new. My mother is an episodic example of a systemic problem.' Adebowale spent six years as a non-executive director on the board of NHS England and is a former chief executive of the addiction and mental health charity Turning Point. He and his family are still trying to find out why their mother's cancer was only identified by an autopsy after she died after arriving 'in a poor condition' at A&E at a hospital in England he did not name. Not knowing at the time why she had died made her death even harder for the family, he said. His mother – who came to work in the NHS from Nigeria – never smoked, he added. 'We've only recently found out [about the lung cancer]. It made me angry, because how can you live for that long with something that a lot of people [did not spot]? 'She died of lung cancer and by definition [a diagnosis being made] anytime earlier than when she died would have been good. She clearly wasn't picked up by any screening as far as I know. Her medical records I've seen show that nothing indicated that she had cancer anywhere. That was poor care, wasn't it?' Research has found that: Black British mothers are up to four times more likely to die during pregnancy or within six weeks of giving birth than white mothers. Those of black and African or Caribbean origin are twice as likely to have a stroke, and younger, than white counterparts. Black African patients are two and a half times more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act than white British patients. Kate Seymour, Macmillan Cancer Support's head of external affairs, said: 'Stories like Grace Amoke Owuren Adebowale's highlight the heartbreaking reality for some when it comes to accessing cancer care in this country. Research shows that people from ethnically diverse backgrounds in England wait longer on average to be diagnosed for several types of cancer. 'It is categorically unacceptable that some people with cancer are having worse experiences simply because of who they are or where they live.' Prof Habib Naqvi, the chief executive of the NHS Race and Health Observatory, said Adebowale's remarks about his mother's death should lead to change. 'Sadly, black communities and families continue to experience many shortfalls in care, treatment and outcomes. They often face additional trauma at multiple stages of the life course,' he said. 'We thank Victor for the candour in sharing his personal testimony and expect these insights to lead to learning and action from healthcare providers to improve the quality of patient care.' NHS England has been approached for comment.
