As a Black woman, I am constantly thinking about my health. Especially during a time when the NHS is undergoing a crisis, which Black women are going to experience more disproportionately. 

Not only because I suffer from a chronic mental health illness, but because of how structural racism in every facet of life impacts me and consequently impacts my health. It has got me thinking about the health outcomes of Black women.

Across all medical specialisms we have the poorest health outcomes, including mental health, maternal and reproductive health, as well as other non-communicable diseases. 

For example, the development of Type 2 diabetes before the age of 80 is almost double for people with an African Caribbean background, compared with white Europeans. According to the UK report commissioned on ethnic disparities in health, Black people have 1.5 to 2.5 times greater risk of having a stroke than white people.