Know your population

Scotland’s BME population 

The 2022 Census has provided evidence of the changing ethnic composition of Scotland.

Of the 5.4 million people living in Scotland, around 388,000 came from Black/Minority Ethnic backgrounds, which equates to around 7% of the total population – a rise of 3% from the 2011 census figures.

Asian groups were the largest minority ethnic group in Scotland and represent nearly 4% of the total population. White minority ethnic groups (e.g. Irish, Gypsy/Traveller, Polish) collectively make up 5.8% of the total population – a rise of 1.6% since the 2011 census.

Scotland’s BME population is patterned by age, with 11.6% of Scotland’s total population being BME people under the age of 18. This compares to just 1.5% of Scotland’s total population being BME people over the age of 65.

Glasgow is the most ethnically diverse place in Scotland with 20% of Glaswegians coming from BME backgrounds. Notably 32.6% of Glasgow’s under 18 year olds come from BME backgrounds.

Community Languages

About 5 in every 100 people admitted to our hospitals as inpatients do not speak English.

NHSGGC has over 100 language groups that use our services.  The top 10 languages are currently:

• Arabic
• Urdu
• Polish
• Mandarin
• Romanian
• Farsi
• Punjabi
• Kurdish Sorani
• Cantonese
• Slovakian

Your service’s patient population may not reflect these main language groups so it is important to monitor this.  For example, a patient population which is mainly drawn from refugees and asylum seekers will have a different language profile.

Engagement

Services need to establish an understanding of needs by engaging with BME patients and staff to identify issues for BME patients in our services.  This can include data collection around ethnicity.  It is important to note that all of us have an ethnicity and therefore all patients should be asked their ethnicity in our services.

Services should regularly engage with patients to understand what they think about the services we provide.  It is important to include BME patient specifically in patient engagement to ensure their voice is heard in how to improve services. Speak to the Board’s Patient Experience and Public Involvement Team   (PEPI) for advice.