THE first stage of a project to determine the health needs of ethnic minorities in Redditch has been finished, writes Julian Seva.

Far-reaching consultation has, for the first time, heard how different minorities want to try to break down some of the barriers which can often mean they miss out on services.

Issues such as producing labels for medication in appropriate languages, providing ethnic diets in hospitals and suitable spiritual care have all been mentioned.

The joint health consultative committee met last week to hear interim findings from the consultation and will now take recommendations to bodies such as the Primary Care Group and health authority.

Redditch Council health liaison officer Jean Arrowsmith said: "Health is to do with a whole range of things, such as employment and poverty. There is a health divide in Britain which is widening, unlike in Europe, and what we wanted to do is gauge local perceptions and reduce social exclusions."

Research shows people from ethnic minority backgrounds are disproportionately deprived and more likely to live in poor areas.

The consultation looked at areas such as culture, religion, discrimination and language.

Health Improvement Group chairman Betty Passingham said: "What we wanted to know was what their problems were and how we could get round them. It's a positive project."

Some of the findings and recommendations will now be fed back to the focus groups.