Ethnic minorities receive comparatively better health care from GPs in England than in America, according to research published this month.

The study led by Professor James Nazroo, from The University of Manchester, found no differences for a range of clinical outcomes of care for patients from ethnic minority backgrounds when compared with white patients.

It found that they were no more likely to have undiagnosed illness and just as likely to have their condition well-managed, for a range of conditions.

This, says Professor Nazroo, is in marked contrast to the results of previous research in America, where minorities have much poorer access to high quality care.

The findings challenge widely held views - both in the UK and America - that the poorer health of ethnic minority groups in England is caused by limited access to healthcare.

According to Professor Nazroo, poverty is the main cause.

However, the report did find inequalities in how patients from ethnic minorities access hospital services and a 'marked' difference in accessing dental care.

The conditions studied were high blood pressure, raised cholesterol and diabetes.

The paper is published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

"The implication of our research is that ethnic inequalities in healthcare are minimal within NHS primary care," said Professor Nazroo.

"In other words, publicly funded primary care with universal access has resulted in greater equality of access to and outcomes of care across the main ethnic groups. It's a vindication of the NHS and the principles that underpin it."

One factor that might contribute towards poorer access to hospital care, according to the team, is that white people are far more likely to use private services than are ethnic minority patients.

And the low use of dental services may reflect the difficulty ethnic minority patients experience in finding an NHS dentist, or paying dental fees.

Professor Nazroo said: "We found no evidence among respondents that ethnic minorities suffer disproportionately poorer care for hypertension and raised cholesterol.

In fact in some cases, there were indications that ethnic minority respondents received better care. And for diabetes there were also few differences."

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