Letter: Racist healthcare
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Letter:
Racist healthcare
Sir: It is well known that people who experience mental health services and many people from black and ethnic minority communities have grave reservations about the clinical practice of psychiatry.
The implementation of compulsory powers under present circumstances (ie the 1983 Mental Health Act) is riddled with racism and cultural insensitivity resulting in inequality and injustice - a fact evident from reports of the Mental Health Act Commission and I believe well known to ministers.
Basically, the system of (Western) psychiatry used in the mental health services is both insensitive to the cultural diversity of our society and fails to counteract problems arising from institutional racism. And there is as yet no indication that the government has either the political will or the strategy to remedy these difficulties.
Frank Dobson's letter to Dr Graham Thornicroft does not indicate that he is looking to the committee headed by the latter for anything like a radical examination of psychiatric practice and of course he would not have given the chairmanship of the committee to a psychiatrist from the mainstream of institutional psychiatry if he had!
My fear is that unless the problems inherent in current pyschiatric practice are tackled first, the proposed changes (round-the-clock crisis teams, extra hostels etc) would have little effect - and in some cases may make matters much worse both for people diagnosed as "mentally ill" and the general public. And worrying to me as a psychiatrist is that the already tarnished reputation of pyschiatry as a racist and insensitive discipline that is merely a front for social control would be worsened.
DR SUMAN FERNANDO
Consultant Psychiatrist
Senior Lecturer in Mental Health
University of Kent and Canterbury
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments