Schools of nursing must represent UK diversity in their teaching programmes

Medical student Malone Mukwende has recently drawn attention to the under-representation of the black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) patient perspective within UK medical schools by co-authoring a handbook in collaboration with lecturers at St George's University of London and launching a campaign for change (Rimmer, 2020; Mukwende et al, 2020). The handbook provides an illustrated guide to skin conditions in people with black and brown skin (Mukwende et al, 2020).

Mukwende's quest is an admirable one, but it is difficult to understand why issues such as this have not been considered in the past, especially because of the diversity of NHS healthcare staff and the patients that they treat. It could also be considered that this is not an issue for medical schools to deal with alone but, rather, should be addressed by all health professionals, including those in nursing and midwifery.