When the Stephen Lawrence inquiry reported four years ago, it spoke of institutional racism not just in the police but in the public sector as a whole. So has the situation improved? As far as NHS mental health services are concerned, apparently not much.
According to National Institute for Mental Health in England chief executive Anthony Sheehan, the NHS is institutionally racist and we should not tolerate it.
Sheehan was giving evidence at the inquiry into the death of mental health in-patient David Bennett, a 38-year-old African Caribbean patient who died in 1998 in the Norvic Clinic, a medium secure psychiatric unit in Norwich, after being restrained by staff.
Asked what difference he could make, Sheehan said: "I do not believe this organisation can tackle all racism in the NHS, but it will begin to tackle it in mental health." He said the NIMHE would have a strong black presence, with 12 more appointments being made by the end of the year. Only two of the institute’s senior managers are from ethnic minorities.
Karen Squillino, primary prevention co-ordinator,
Barnardo's
"Institutionalised racism is an entrenched problem in all
public sector agencies. If changes are going to occur, we need to
acknowledge our unwitting prejudices - a bitter pill to swallow.
Coupled with this, we need to see public sector agencies having a
legal requirement to deliver affirmative policies on race and
service user participation in the development and evaluation of
services."
Bob Hudson, principal research fellow, Nuffield Institute
for Health, University of Leeds
"Back in 1998, health secretary Alan Milburn promised that
the government would not tolerate racial discrimination in the NHS,
but little seems to have been done. Evidence of embedded racism
seems to be multiplying, whether it be allocation of merit awards
to consultants or the harassment of front-line staff. Just as
worrying is that most of these incidents go unrecorded. One is
reminded of Sir Roy Griffiths' description of community care as
'everyone's distant relative but nobody's baby'."
Martin Green, chief executive, Counsel and Care for the
Elderly
"Undoubtedly the system has difficulties dealing with the
particular needs of black and ethnic minority communities, and
there needs to be far more work done on how best to ensure these
groups receive appropriate care. However, I do not think it is
helpful to simply appoint more staff from black and ethnic minority
groups. What we need are examples of how the system is failing and
of the differing needs of black and ethnic minority groups."
