The Local Areas and Services

Abstract

The study is set among nurses and social care professionals in Essex, East London, and Tower Hamlets. This includes Redbridge and Waltham Forest and Barking and Havering Health Authorities. These organizations provide services to the local boroughs of Barking, Dagenham, Havering, Redbridge, and Waltham Forest. These boroughs have a total population of approximately 835,000. The population is ethnically diverse, with approximately a third of people from Black and ethnic minority communities in Waltham Forest, approximately one fifth of Black and ethnic minority communities in Redbridge, approximately 7% of Black and ethnic minority communities in Barking and Dagenham. There is also significant social and economic variation in these areas and unemployment varies from around 8–9% in Havering, Barking, and Dagenham to 19% in Waltham Forest (LETEC 1999, 43). The study also draws from N.E. Essex Health Authority and the Colchester borough to provide a point of comparison and a source of generalization of nurses’ views. The study draws from qualified nurses working in hospital, mental health, and primary nursing services in the Colchester area. Colchester borough is the main setting, with a population of approximately 150,000. People living in the area are predominantly White/Caucasian and only some 2–3% from ethnic communities. Unemployment is approximately 5% (N.E. Essex Health Authority 1998).