Health Minister Sajid Javid ordered a review on whether medical devices are equally effective regardless of patient ethnicity. It comes after research suggested that an oximeter, clipped to a person’s finger, could overstate the oxygen levels in the blood of people from ethnic minorities. Ministers want to know if bias could prevent patients from receiving appropriate Covid treatment. Mr Javid said: “One of the founding principles of our NHS is equality, and the possibility that a bias – even unintentional – could lead to poorer health outcomes is not at all. Acceptable.
