Delivering services to the Bangladeshi community: the views of healthcare professionals in East London

Abstract

To explore the views of primary care staff about delivering services to the local Bangladeshi community. Qualitative case study. Six focus groups, each with a different healthcare profession: speech and language therapists; child development team; health advocacy team; salaried general practitioners; school nurses; and occupational therapists. The study contributors spoke of the community as homogeneous and different from other communities. Language, religion and a lack of knowledge of the National Health Service were barriers to effective service use. There was only limited acknowledgement of the deprivation of this community and of similarities to other deprived communities. Health education and promotion were thought to be the best solutions to the difficulties identified. The study contributors' views seemed to derive from anecdotal rather than research-based evidence. There is a clear need for training, not only in equality and diversity, but also in core public health approaches: understanding the links between poverty and poor health; the scope and limitations of health promotion; and the role of community development.