Consultations for people from minority groups

doi:10.1136/bmj.a273

Practice

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Consultations for people from minority groups

Aziz Sheikh, professor of primary care research and development¹, Rashid Gatrad, consultant paediatrician², Sangeeta Dhami, locum general practitioner³

¹ Division of Community Health Sciences, GP Section, University of Edinburgh EH8 9DX, ² Department of Paediatrics, Manor Hospital, Walsall WS2 2PS, ³ Edinburgh, EH17 8UE

Correspondence to: A Sheikh aziz.sheikh@ed.ac.uk

This article provides practical suggestions on ways to improvecommunication with people from minority ethnic and faith groups

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Most developed societies are ethnically, linguistically, andreligiously diverse, and recent trends in migration mean thatthis diversity is set to increase. Irrespective of background,most people want (and most health professionals aim to provide)high quality care that is accessible and sensitively delivered.For many people in minority groups, the care sought and theprofessional knowledge base, skills, and competencies neededto deliver such care are no different from those needed forpeople from the majority population, but in some instances standardapproaches may need to be modified to achieve comparable outcomes.Making the effort to do so is important for ethical and legalreasons, but also because it will be appreciated and remembered.Conversely, failures in communication often have a lasting negativeeffect on the doctor-patient relationship; in particular, suchfailures can erode trust, not only in the clinician, but alsoin the health service in general.