I am an NHS leader – but my mother has always suffered from the health of the health service

A senior NHS official criticized the health service, saying that his mother had received a “black service, not an NHS service” at his death.

Lord Victor Adebowale, President of the NHS Confederation, who represents health officials, described the death of his mother Grace as “unworthy”.

The 92 -year -old man died in January from the alleged lung cancer, although he was only detected after his death.

Lord Adebowale said that her mother’s missed diagnosis, combined with the care below the handle she received when they admitted to the hospital for the last time, had left her family upset and looked for answers.

The peer, which was also part of the Board of Directors of NHS in England for six years, thinks that the experience of his mother illustrates wider problems.

“My mother wanted me to tell her story because she is not the only one to have encountered these problems.”

Lord Adebowale said he would not call the NHS racist, but rather believed that he was torn by inequalities, in particular racial inequalities.

“It is the law on reverse care. People who need health and care most are the least likely to get it – if you are black, if you are poor, if you are old and poor, there are inequalities in the system and people like my mother suffer.”

The intervention by such a figure is significant. Lord Adebowale has occupied senior health positions for more than two decades and has also helped to establish the NHS breed and health observatory in 2021 to try to fight against inequalities suffered by black and minority ethnic patients in health care.

The NHS England said it was trying to improve access to services and to combat inequalities, which would constitute an “important part” of the 10 -year health plan, which should be published next month.

A spokesperson added: “Everyone – regardless of their career – should receive the best care in the possible NHS. But we know that there is much more to do.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care echoes these comments, adding: “Our deepest sympathies are with Lord Adebowale for the loss of his mother.”

Lord Adebowale’s mother, who had three other children, emigrated to the United Kingdom in the 1950s in Nigeria and worked as a nurse in hospitals, community and mental health services.

He describes her as an attentive, compassionate and intense nurse.

“She believed in the health service. These are people like her who help build the NHS, but, when she needed it, it was not there as he should have been.

“She has had dementia and, in the past five or six years, has been in regular contact with the health service. We cannot understand why she did not get a diagnosis (cancer). She was in discomfort and pain – and had been so for some time.

“She has never received a treatment for cancer – it was only after her death, we learned that she had lung cancer.”

This was noted during a dead post and subsequent tests suggested that this was the likely cause for his death, he said.

Lord Adebowale added that when his mother was transported to hospital, the last time it was not easy to find a bed. “The hospital was under intense pressure. She didn’t want to die in the hospital in this kind of situation.”

Lord Adebowale does not name the NHS service involved in his care, saying that he does not want to distribute the individual blame, because his mother’s experience was symbolic of a broader problem.

“I just think there are too many situations where people who look like me and the nuances of me do not get the service they deserve. It was not worthy death that we would have liked for her. It was not the death she deserved.

“I think she obtained a black service, not an NHS service.”

Lord Adebowale, who for almost 20 years was director general of Turning Point, an organization of care that supports people with substance abuse and mental health problems alongside those who have learning disabilities, before becoming president of the NHS Confederation in 2019, said there were several examples of inequality in the health service.

He underlined research Showing black blacks waited for 20 minutes on average than whites.

He also showed that people from the poorest history were more likely to meet one -year expectations for routine treatment.

Other studies have suggested that people from disadvantaged communities are 50% more likely to have cancer diagnosed after a visit to A & e – such diagnoses are more likely to be at a later stage when the chances of survival are lower.

He said that during the promise of Additional money for the health service made in this week’s expenses review was welcome, it alone would not attack inequalities.

“This is a systematic problem – I do not want to blame a particular individual or the local NHS of my mother.

“What happened to him could happen anywhere. We have to approach inequalities in the health service and this requires leadership – not just money.”