Mental Health: Ethnic Communities (Hansard, 14 September 2004)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner)
My Lords, progress is being made through major reform of and investment in mental health services for black and minority ethnic communities, although much still needs to be done.
In partnership with leading national experts, sustainable change is being introduced. Among initiatives being put in place are 80 community engagement projects, 500 community development 1025 workers, a programme of education and training in cultural competence for frontline staff and a national census project on race and ethnicity in mental health.

§ Lord Chan
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply. While accepting the progress made in partnership working with some minority ethnic groups, including the Irish, does he agree that the amount of work done to improve mental health services to make them relevant to the needs of ethnic minority people has been quite small?
Is the Minister aware of the results of the 13 community surveys on ethnic mental health conducted in the first quarter of last year involving more than 500 participants, in which I declare an interest as a participant? What is the Government's response to the survey's findings that nine in 10 felt that service access was problematic and half of the 110 service users, patients, had experienced racial discrimination in mental health services? Should more be done to ensure that the mental health workforce has the appropriate management skills because compulsory treatment will be proposed in the new mental health Bill?

§ Lord Warner
My Lords, I did not mean to imply that we are satisfied with the progress that has been made. However, I did mean to imply that progress was being made. I accept the noble Lord's point that more needs to be done. We are aware of the information and surveys to which the noble Lord referred. Certainly, I pay tribute to the work done by the noble Lord in keeping this important issue at the forefront of the Government's and the public's attention.
To give one example, we are developing 10 pilot community engagement projects that have been identified across England reflecting the needs and concerns of a wide range of black and minority ethnic groups. That is why we are trying to put in place the kinds of services the noble Lord rightly says that we need.

§ Lord Clement-Jones
My Lords, Professor Sashidharan's report, Inside Out, was very important. The Government responded to it by setting out targets that they wanted to adopt. In particular, in view of the emphasis placed on community development by Inside Out, they pledged to recruit 500 community development workers by 2006. What progress are the Government making on that?

§ Lord Warner
My Lords, extremely good progress, and we expect to meet our target.

§ The Earl of Listowel
My Lords, is the Minister aware that children from ethnic minority groups account for nearly one in five children in public care, but just one in 10 of the general population; and that one in three Afro-Caribbean boys is likely to spend more than five years in care as opposed to one in 10 white children? In the light of that, how is he promoting closer partnerships between foster carers, 1026 children's homes and child and adolescent mental health services, to prevent these children developing mental ill health when they grow up?

§ Lord Warner
My Lords, I am only too well aware from personal experience both as a former director of social services and as a government Minister of the points the noble Lord makes. The Government are producing a National Service Framework for Children which will include provisions on improving child and adolescent mental health services. The House will not have to wait for very long; indeed, this document will be produced very shortly.

§ Earl Howe
My Lords, the Minister will know of the finding by the Healthcare Commission in July that black and ethnic people are being let down by mental health services in the NHS. I wonder whether he shares my suspicion from that finding that, for all the extra resources going into the NHS and all the reorganisation that the Government have brought about, the new money is simply not finding its way to where the healthcare is most needed.

§ Lord Warner
My Lords, there is always a difficult balance to be struck in running an organisation as large as the NHS. Many Members of this House will know that we are shifting the balance of power much more to local decision-making. However, we are confident that the money is reaching the parts that it ought to reach and we are seeing improvements. Improvement may not be coming as fast as we would like, but it will be for the Healthcare Commission, when it completes next year's assessment of the NHS, to tell us whether that is right. In the new national standards published in July, the Government made it very clear, in core standards 7 and 8, that we must challenge discrimination in the provision of health services and promote equality and respect for human rights. We expect those services to respect the needs of all the people in our communities.

§ Baroness Masham of Ilton
My Lords, does the Minister agree that there is a high percentage of black and ethnic prisoners in our prisons? He will be aware of the welcome National Health Service input in prisons nowadays. Do medication and health records move with prisoner patients with mental problems from prison to prison and go out with them into the community where there can be serious mental health problems?

§ Lord Warner
My Lords, the Government have done a great deal to improve the prison health service and have brought in arrangements so that the NHS plays a bigger role in the healthcare services provided to prisoners. It is important that those records move with the prisoner. As far as I am aware they follow the prisoner in the way that the noble Baroness said, but I shall check and write to her.