The Black Health and Research Conference was held on Wednesday 23 October 2024 and was run by NNUH Together Staff Network with colleagues from Norwich Research Park and the University of East Anglia (UEA).
The event was opened by Roberta Hook, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, NNUH and Co-Chair of the NNUH Together Network, and Roz Bird, CEO of Anglia Innovation Partnership.
For this first event of its kind at Norwich Research Park, it brought together a host of nationally and internationally renowned experts from NNUH, Norwich Research Park and from further afield who spoke about their health, science and research centred on the black experience – highlighting the challenges to access care and disparity in outcomes between Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people compared to their white counterparts.
The conference included discussions on experiences in maternity, birthing and early parenthood, mental health challenges and outcomes and diversity in research, science and health.
Roberta Hook, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, and Co-Chair of the NNUH Together Network, said: “I’m thrilled that we hosted this conference”.
“The evidence shows that black people are less likely to seek mental health treatment, but more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act. When it comes to maternity care, black women are five times more likely to die in childbirth and have adverse maternal outcomes. And in research and science, a very small percentage of the population are black academic researchers or professors”.
Roberta said: “I’d like to thank everyone who attended the conference who contributed to such a fantastic event and were extremely open about the experiences they have faced and how we can get more diversity in science, research and health and reduce inequalities for black people accessing NHS services.”
“Each speaker spoke with so much expertise and passion and the questions, comments and discussion in the room was so inclusive. The 2024 Black History Month theme is about ‘reclaiming narratives’ – this significant shift requires us all to recognise and correct narratives. We know we have a lot more to do achieve equality across the NHS and we want to make successful events like these a real catalyst for change.”
The conference was covered by BBC Look East and ITV News Anglia. Watch the interview https://youtu.be/xNJR8I6Bm6k