Global Majority Joint Strategic Needs Assessment

The issue

A person's health is heavily influenced by the conditions they are born into, grow up in, live, work, and age.  

In Westminster, people generally live longer than in most other areas of the country. However, there is a significant gap between the healthy life expectancies of different groups of people, depending on where they live in the borough. While the link between poverty and life expectancy is well known, health inequalities related to ethnicity aren't as well understood. 

Almost half of Westminster's residents come from what we refer to as the Global Majority - ethnic groups other than white British and other white groups, which make up about 80% of the world's population. 

People from different ethnic backgrounds and those with additional needs are more likely to suffer from poor health, have higher rates of preventable long-term conditions, and express negative experiences with healthcare and other essential services.  

Preventable conditions such as type-2 diabetes or hypertension often lead to early deaths but are avoidable through better diet, exercise, and access to healthcare. 

We also understand that mistrust, exclusionary policies and experiences of discrimination in employment, housing, healthcare or criminal justice systems can also have a negative impact on the physical and mental health of people from Global Majority communities. 

What are we doing about it?

In 2023, we spoke with residents from Global Majority backgrounds and local community groups in Westminster to learn about their health challenges. These conversations have provided valuable insights that are helping us improve our services.  

We are: 

• investing more in faith-based, voluntary, and community organisations 
• strengthening our co-production approaches and making services more culturally sensitive 
• transforming the ways in which we work to tackle inequalities and improve population health by 2035 
• step up our practice to become an anti-racist organisation

Next steps

We are committed to improving how we collect data so that we can better meet residents' needs and hold ourselves accountable for making a difference. We are deepening our understanding of how structural racism and institutional discrimination lead to different health outcomes. It's not just about getting people into services but ensuring they benefit from them. Our work is ongoing, and we are dedicated to continuing to listen and improve.