'RACISM' In Mental Health Care

May 2008 - Leicester Mercury

Asian patients suffering depression and other mental health problems are missing out on treatment because of "institutional racism" in the health service, the chief executive of an NHS Trust has claimed.

Women from south Asian backgrounds are twice as likely to commit suicide as the rest of the population, and there are concerns this may be in part due to their failure to get help with mental health problems.

He said: "We really should acknowledge that the impact of institutional racism is there in mental health and other health and social care services, in the same way it has been recognised in the criminal justice system."

The chairman of the Mental Health Act Commission, Lord Patel of Bradford, warned unless greater efforts were made to support Asian communities, they could suffer similar levels of problems to black African and Caribbean groups, which are vastly over-represented In mental health institutions.

People from these ethnic groups are as much as 18 times more likely to end up in a mental institution than the national average.

Lord Patel said the system must be alert to signs that people from Asian backgrounds were experiencing problems.

He said: "If we ignore these messages then in the next 10 to 20 years we're likely to see the same numbers of south Asian people ending up in the mental health system as young black African and Caribbean people are doing now."

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