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Access to care

Access to healthcare in the UK is not universally equitable. Even within a system that offers free care at the point of delivery, significant barriers prevent timely and effective access for many individuals — particularly those from deprived communities.

Further qualitative insights were gathered through interviews with NHS clinicians. For example:

  • Language and communication challenges Limited English proficiency affects many ethnic minority patients, particularly older Bangladeshi and Pakistani adults. This impacts patients' ability to understand diagnoses, follow medical advice, and navigate referral pathways.
  • Discrimination and unconscious bias Multiple studies have documented that ethnic minority patients may experience lower levels of trust, longer wait times, and inadequate pain management. These experiences can deter future engagement with health services.
  • Lack of culturally competent care Services often fail to reflect or accommodate patients' cultural practices, dietary needs, family structures, or religious beliefs. For example, standard weight loss and diabetes education programmes rarely incorporate South Asian diets or offer materials in appropriate languages. This makes it harder for patients to engage meaningfully with prevention or self-management initiatives.
  • Challenges Associated with Physical or Mental Disability or Illness In addition to cultural and linguistic barriers, many individuals face structural and practical access issues due to mental ill health, physical disabilities, or learning difficulties. These barriers are often overlooked in mainstream service design, leading to exclusion from preventive care, poor health outcomes, and increased reliance on crisis services.
Despite the availability of services on paper, actual access is constrained by language, cultural mismatch, digital exclusion, and lack of personalised support. Patients may miss out on key interventions simply because materials are not provided in a format that can be easily understood and acted upon.

Curovia’s Proposition:

Culturally inclusive, easily understandable tailored materials, including multilingual videos is specifically designed to overcome these barriers. By improving communication, building trust, and embedding cultural understanding into care delivery, our model seeks to make access equitable, not just available.