Trusts told to appoint board director with responsibility for reducing racism

Mental health trusts will be expected to appoint a board member responsible for improving racial equality and to develop individual plans to eliminate systemic racism, according to new draft NHS England guidance seen by HSJ.

The draft guidance says all providers will be required to draw up their own Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework by March 2024. These blueprints will outline how trusts plan to improve access, experience and outcomes for racialised communities, covering all services from talking therapies through to secure inpatient services.

PCREFs were a key recommendation in the 2018 Mental Health Act review which identified disproportionate applications of the act in racialised groups and are part of NHSE’s wider mental health equalities strategy.

Black people are 10 times more likely to receive a community treatment order after being an inpatient and their rate of detention under the act is four times as high as the rate for white people.

The guidance follows HSJ last month revealing the “staggering” rise in restraints of black people in NHS care.

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Source: HSJ, 5 January 2023