Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve community engagement with Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities to help tackle inequalities in mental health services.

As outlined in the Mental Health Implementation Plan 2019/20 to 2023/24, all local health systems are expected to set out how they will address inequalities in access and outcomes for groups with protected characteristics, including ethnicity by 2023/24. To support this, NHS England and NHS Improvement commissioned the Advancing Mental Health Equality resource for local commissioners and providers to identify and address inequalities in mental health care. This guide is available at the following link:

www.rcpsych.ac.uk/docs/default-source/improving-care/nccmh/amhe/amhe-resource.pdf

As part of our proposals on reforms to the Mental Health Act 1983 we have committed to introducing a new Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework. This will support National Health Service mental healthcare providers and local authorities to work with their local communities to improve the ways in which patients of diverse ethnic backgrounds access, engage with and experience mental healthcare.