Commitment to improvement of Mental Health Services for black and minority ethnic communities

Citation

Morris, B. (2001), "Commitment to improvement of Mental Health Services for black and minority ethnic communities", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 14 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2001.06214aab.004

Commitment to improvement of Mental Health Services for black and minority ethnic communities

Commitment to improvement of Mental Health Services for black and minority ethnic communities

Speaking at the Forum on Black and Minority Ethnic Mental Health in October, UK Health Minister, Mr John Hutton announced that the Mental Health Taskforce, set up to help drive forward the implementation of the NHS Plan, will be given a specific remit to look at how progress can be made on issues around black and minority ethnic mental health. Mr Hutton also confirmed that Professor Sashidharan, a respected professional in this area, would be joining the Taskforce and would play a critical part in developing future policy.

Mr Hutton said:

The modernisation of mental health services is a core national priority for this Government. The NHS Plan detailed an extra annual investment of over £300 million to fast forward the implementation of the National Service Framework on Mental Health. The Mental Health Taskforce will spearhead this work and I would very much like to see a standing group set up on ethnic minorities to report on ways we can progress.

One of our priorities is to make sure that the services on offer meet the actual needs of the people who use them – this is especially relevant to black and minority ethnic communities. And, in order for services to truly meet the needs of a person, we must make sure that services are able to take full account of that person's cultural background.

Mr Hutton also highlighted other areas of work which will improve the service for black and minority ethnic individuals:

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  A collaboration between the Mental Health Act Commission, the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health and the University of Lancashire which has been set up to look at issues of ethnic monitoring, racial harassment, and training to see how examples of best practice can be shared.

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  A monitoring exercise to find out about the experiences of black and minority ethnic people when using mental health services. This will give a clear understanding of the make-up of local populations and show who is – or is not – accessing the services available.

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  The Royal College of Psychiatrists has been asked to develop cultural awareness training to improve the knowledge of those who deliver the services.