Frequently Asked Questions

What is Delivering Race Equality in Mental Health Services?

Delivering Race Equality in Mental Health Care (DRE) is a comprehensive action plan for eliminating discrimination and achieving equality in mental health care for all people of Black and minority ethnic (BME) status.

Delivering Race Equality is built on 3 three building blocks:

More appropriate and responsive services - achieved through action to improve mental health care for black and minority ethnic patients, developing a more culturally capable workforce, and finding new pathways to care and recovery.

Community engagement - achieved by engaging communities in planning services, and supported by 500 new community development workers and the expertise of independent sector BME service providers.

Better information - from improved monitoring of ethnicity, better dissemination of information and good practice, and by improving knowledge about effective services. This includes the new regular census of mental health patients covering their ethnicity, faith, legal status and more.

Is there really a problem?

Yes. We know from research that rates of compulsory admission are significantly higher for BME groups, average lengths of stay are longer, and BME patients are more likely than white people to be prescribed drugs or ECT rather than psychotherapy or counselling. This fuels the "circle of fear" that deters many BME patients from seeking early treatment for their illness.

How will DRE make a difference?

DRE is based on advice from the leading experts in the field. For the first time it sets out a comprehensive and realistic five-year programme of action for tackling inequality, overseen by the new BME Mental Health Programme Delivery Board currently chaired by the CSIP BME Mental Health Programme Director. It is underpinned by the core standards for the NHS that we published last year in National Standards, Local Action and by the requirements of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.

How will DRE be enforced?

The Healthcare Commission will be assessing every trust's performance against core national standards, including those relating to equality and discrimination. The NHS has a legal obligation not to discriminate in the provision of services, and the Commission for Racial Equality has an interest in progress. National action will be managed by the BME mental health programme board, which is accountable directly to Ministers. The new annual census of mental health patients will allow us to monitor progress, along with other sources of information such as Healthcare Commission surveys.

How long before discrimination ends?

DRE is a five-year plan, but implementation has already begun. A lot of good progress has already been made, especially through the BME programme of the National Institute for Mental Health in England.

Is there any new money?

Equality is an existing core standard to be delivered from existing resources, not a new requirement. But NHS spending on mental health increased by over £700 million - or 19 per cent - between 1999/2000 and 2002/03. That has helped to fund dedicated resources within the BME mental health programme - for example the NIMHE projects and the 500 community development workers who are being recruited now.

Why doesn't DRE say more about refugees, BME children or BME older people?

DRE and our response to the David Bennett inquiry are important components of our BME mental health programme, but they are not the entire programme. We are firmly committed to improving access, experience and outcomes for every population group suffering from inequalities.