First NHS walkabout held in city

Senior NHS managers are on a "walkabout" in Bristol in an attempt to build good relationships with black and ethnic minority communities.

The first destination was Ujima Radio, a new community station broadcasting to the Ashley and Lawrence Hill wards.

Managers then went on to meet groups in Easton and Barton Hill.

"Good health decisions cannot be made without a knowledge of the people who depend on those decisions," said programme manager Marvin Rees.

Cultural expectations

At Ujima the managers saw the work done on the station's Health Show, a Bristol NHS supported radio programme.

Each week NHS frontline staff and service users who are guests on the show are interviewed about pressing health questions.

It has increased my sense of urgency to get things right in the NHS John Teller

John Teller a non-executive director on the board of the NHS in Bristol said subjects recently tackled on the show included Aids and sickle cell anemia.

"We learned about the support they need and that really they are running on a shoestring with lots of volunteers so it's important we help them get the right resources to make them viable," said Mr Teller.

The group then went on to meet the Somali and Arab-speaking women's group.

"They really opened our eyes about how insensitive services can be sometimes and we talked about the ways we can improve that," said John Teller.

"One story we were told about involved a man who had been given medication that made him feel lousy but when he tried to explain how the medication was making him feel it was not understood. He ended up collapsing.

"We have to understand cultural expectations so today has been incredibly useful. It has increased my sense of urgency to get things right in the NHS. It's been very motivating."

On Tuesday afternoon the group was due to visit the Family Club serving Eastern European Communities before having a late lunch at the Sikh Resource Centre.