Objective:
To gain exploratory insights into the multi-faceted, lived-experience impact of COVID-19 on a small sample of ethnic minority healthcare staff to co-create a module of questions for follow-up online surveys on the wellbeing of healthcare staff during the pandemic.
Design:
A cross-sectional design using two online focus groups among ethnic minority healthcare workers who worked in care or supportive roles in a hospital, community health or GP surgery setting for at least 12 months.
Participants
Thirteen healthcare workers (11 female) aged 26 to 62 years from diverse ethnic minority backgrounds, eleven working in clinical roles.
Results:
Five primary thematic domains emerged: 1) viral vulnerability, centring around perceived individual risk and vulnerability perceptions; 2) risk assessment, comprising of pressures to comply, perception of a tick-box exercise, and issues with risk and resource stratification; 3) interpersonal relations in the workplace, highlighting deficient consultation of ethnic minority staff, cultural insensitivity, need for support, and collegiate judgement; 4) lived experience of racial inequality, consisting of job insecurity and the exacerbation of systemic racism and its emotional burden; 5) community attitudes, including public prejudice and judgement, and patient appreciation.
Conclusions:
Our novel study has shown ethnic minority NHS staff have experienced COVID-19 in a complex, multi-dimensional manner. Future research with a larger sample should further examine the complexity of these experiences and should enumerate the extent to which these varied thematic experiences are shared among ethnic minority NHS workers so that more empathetic and supportive management and related occupational practices can be instituted.