|
Anti-racist
training for all mental health staff
May
3, 2004
All NHS psychiatrists and mental health nurses are to be put through
a national retraining programme to root out racist attitudes that
have undermined the treatment of black and ethnic minority patients,
a national newspaper has reported.
Ministers
have accepted a recommendation of the inquiry into the death of
David "Rocky" Bennett that training the 40,000-strong
mental health workforce in "cultural competence" should
become a priority for the service, according to the Guardian.
Mr
Bennett, 38, a Jamaican-born Rastafarian died at the Norvic secure
centre in Norwich in 1998 after being held face down on the floor
for 28 minutes by at least four mental health nurses.
An
inquiry under Sir John Blofeld reported in February that his maltreatment
was an example of discrimination against black mental health patients
that amounted to institutional racism.
The
government set up a black and minority ethnic steering group to
push through a programme of reform. Rosie Winterton, health minister,
and Lord Victor Adebowale, chief executive of the charity Turning
Point, co-chaired its first meeting last week.
The
Guardian reported that they decided that the issue was so serious
that solutions could not be left to the discretion of local mental
health trusts.
About
35,000 mental health nurses, 3,000 consultant psychiatrists and
3,000 junior doctors will be retrained over the next few years.
The
group will decide shortly on what a programme of cultural competence
should contain and which trainers are best equipped to provide it.
Guardian
article in full
See also:
Feb
8: 'Abscess' of NHS racism revealed - verdict follows investigation
into the death of patient at Norvic Clinic psychiatic unit in Norwich.
Add your
comments
What
do you think? Email your comments on the above
article to the editor using the form below. Selected comments will
be displayed.
© 2001-7 Psychminded Limited. All
rights reserved
Email
a colleague
about this article
|
|
