UK-REACH: I-CARE - United Kingdom Research study into Ethnicity And COVID-19 outcomes in Healthcare workers: Increasing retention of healthcare staff from ethnic minority groups (UK-REACH - I-CARE)

Healthcare workers from ethnic minority backgrounds are falling ill and dying from COVID-19 at higher rates than their white colleagues, and this study will track 12 months of their physical and mental health to understand why. The problem is stark: existing data suggests ethnic minority healthcare workers face greater risks of severe COVID-19 and death, but no one has systematically linked staff records with health outcomes to measure the true scale. This project will pull together data from national healthcare organisations, follow a group of ethnic minority workers over a year, and interview a smaller group about how their jobs and behaviours have changed during the pandemic. The researchers will also tackle the sensitive issue of linking staff data to health records, exploring how to do this in a way that workers find acceptable. If successful, the findings could directly change how hospitals and clinics protect their staff—for example, by adjusting rotas, providing targeted mental health support, or redesigning high-risk roles. A stakeholder group of major national organisations will help publicise results and push for practical recommendations, meaning the research is designed from the start to feed into real policy changes rather than sit on a shelf.