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Dept of Health

Answer

Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent steps have been taken to improve mental health services provided to the black and ethnic minority community. [224872] Ms Rosie Winterton: The Government are committed to equality of access to mental health services, equality of experience of those services, and equality of outcome from services. On 11 January 2005, we published "Delivering Race Equality in Mental Health Care", combined with our response to the independent inquiry into the death of David Bennett. Together, they represent a comprehensive five-year action plan for tackling inequalities and discrimination in services for black and minority ethnic communities. The action plan is based on three building blocks: better, more responsive services--for example through training in cultural awareness for all mental health staff; better engagement of local services with black and minority ethnic communities, supported by the recruitment of 500 new community development workers; and better information about service use and experience, including a new annual national census of mental health patients. The first census took place on 31 March 2005. Implementation of the action plan is being led by Professor Kamlesh Patel QBE, head of the centre for ethnicity and health at the university of central Lancashire and chair of the Mental Health Act Commission. To support implementation, sites within 17 strategic health authorities across England have been selected to help identify and spread best practice. "Delivering Race Equality in Mental Health Care" is available on the Department's website. The objectives of "Delivering Race Equality" are supported by the Department's wider equality and human rights programme and by a 27-point cross- Government action plan on mental health published by the social exclusion unit (SEU) in June 2004. The SEU plan recognises that people with mental health problems are among the most excluded in society; its implementation is being led by the National Institute for Mental Health in England, in collaboration over 20 Government Departments and other organisations at national level.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

432 c1553-4W;432 c1549-50W; 224872

Session

2004-05

Subjects

Access Equality Ethnic groups Minority groups Mental health services Standards

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk