Institute must work with range of users

The National Institute for Mental Health in England must change its
working practices to engage with a wider range of service users,
according to a report last week.

The study finds users and carers feel they have little influence
over the institute’s decisions and poor engagement among some
groups.

These include ethnic minorities, older people, young people, gay,
lesbian and bisexual people, prisoners and those in rural
communities.

The Health and Social Care Advisory Service study calls on the
institute to break down barriers to involvement to improve
diversity.

It also calls for a director to be responsible for a programme to
improve engagement, more investment in local user groups and better
monitoring of involvement.

The institute has accepted most of the recommendations.

• Go to http://www.nimheneyh.org.uk