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A leading mental health charity has accused the government of "ducking" two key recommendations of the inquiry into the death of David Bennett in its long-delayed response, published this week.

Rethink chief executive Cliff Prior said the government had failed to recognise that the NHS was institutionally racist or to set a maximum time deemed safe to restrain patients. Bennett died in 1998 after being restrained face-down for 25 minutes The report of the inquiry was published in February 2004.

Prior described the treatment of ethnic minorities in mental health as "an outrageous scandal that has been known about for decades and should have been tackled years ago".

Campaigners have also criticised the lack of clear targets in a government action plan on improving mental health services for ethnic minorities by 2010, published to coincide with the response.

Angela Greatley, chief executive of the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health, said the plan was "strong in principle but vague in detail".

Measures include a reduction in the rate of admissions of people from ethnic minorities - detention rates for black men are six times higher than the national average - and the prevention of deaths after intervention.
But Errol Francis, joint manager of the organisation's Circles of Fear project, said: "Reducing the excessive rates of compulsory admissions, of violent incidents and the use of seclusion are important objectives. Yet the government does not specify how far these should be reduced or how services are going to be assessed on achieving them."

Under the plan, primary care and other NHS trusts will be expected to provide more responsive services based on the needs of the local population. Trusts will also be assessed by the Healthcare Commission on their performance in challenging discrimination.

Launching the government's response and blueprint for reform, health minister Rosie Winterton said: "Racism, discrimination or inequalities have no place in the modern NHS. Bennett's death stands as a tragic reminder of what can happen if the service fails to meet the needs of ethnic minority patients."

• Delivering Race Equality from www.dh.gov.uk/publications