HEALTH visitors in the North-East are suffering from severe professional anxiety because they are being inadequately trained to treat minority ethnic groups, researchers have found.

A team at Sunderland University has urged an overhaul of the system so health visitors are taught about different cultures.

They have warned the current system could result in patients being treated incorrectly because of the lack of dialogue or understanding of different cultures.

Many health visitors are being taught a one-size-fits all system for each ethnic group during their training. However, when they enter the workplace they are struggling with anxiety and are unsure as to what do with individuals.

The study, Understanding the ways in which health visitors manage anxiety in cross-cultural work, involved in-depth interviews with experienced white health visitors in the North-East who had frequently worked with patients from minority ethnic groups.

The research found that because healthcare workers are educated about different cultures in a rigid way, it is resulting in people being treated based on stereotypes.

In some cases, workers believe some patients wouldn’t suffer from certain illnesses such as depression because of their background.

The research also showed health workers are keen to learn about different cultures and to become more competent when dealing with different groups of people, but the training isn’t available.

Some workers are so desperate to learn they have to ask colleagues who originate from minority ethnic groups for advice.

Dr Fiona Cuthill, a public health senior lecturer, who led the research, said: “The current training available for health visitors is far too rigid for a country with so many different cultures in it. The training available should recognise the complexities of culture differences and not pretend there is the same cultural solution for everyone of the same background.”