New report looks at health inequalities facing Luton's Roma community

Luton Roma Trust has welcomed a report looking at the health inequalities facing the community, and is calling on the town to help change this.

The research, which was published by jointly University of Bedfordshire and Luton Roma Trust with funding from the Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board, was discussed during a event to unpick the challenges faced by the Roma population in Luton.

The report looked at the barriers Roma people come up against when accessing health and care services, including difficulty with language and communications, a lack of knowledge of how the health system works and limited digital literacy.

Crina Morteanu, the charity manager of Luton Roma Trust, said: “It is for the first time in Luton that we have so many representatives of the local authorities, including the education team, the NHS and East of England regional government association, Roma professionals and academics as well as other local charities who are fully committed to improve the situation of the Roma in the town.

“The discussions have contributed to everyone’s understanding that to tackle the difficulties that the Roma face in their social integration journey there is need to adopt an action plan using a targeted approach. We, at Luton Roma Trust, will coordinate this process and we remain ever grateful to all our partners for their commitment and motivation to support the social integration of the most disadvantaged ethnic minority group in Luton and in the UK, the Roma”.

The study took over 12 months to complete and academics interviewed and had focus groups with Roma people to gauge what support they need the most.

Rachel Hopkins, MP for Luton South, said: “I was pleased to welcome attendees to this event, bringing partners from different services together to discuss a targeted local strategy to better support the integration of the Roma in Luton.

“The recent report by the University of Bedfordshire and Luton Roma Trust laid bare the barriers our Roma community face accessing healthcare. Tailored support is vital to tackling these health inequalities, helping them to live healthy, happy lives.”