Senior leaders in NHS and public sector mental health care, who signed the UK’s first National pledge to reduce ethnic inequalities in mental health systems, have published their inaugural progress reports.

The pledge, launched by the Synergi Collaborative Centre on Wednesday 5th August 2020, features seven commitments to help counter the worrying lack of progress over four decades to alleviate the ethnic inequalities facing black and minoritised people diagnosed with a severe mental illness, including the disproportionate risks they face in mental health services.

Representing 28 of the 33 pledge signatories, the progress reports show that despite the ongoing challenges presented by the pandemic, there has been greater investment to tackle ethnic inequalities. This includes resourcing black and minoritised voluntary and community sector service providers and organisations, and recurrent funding for an annual grants programme to inspire a city-wide community response.

The reports also reveal where steps are being taken to become an anti-racist organisation. Alongside overwhelming support for the launch of a Synergi National Pledge Alliance, signatories call for collaborative leadership to accelerate the pace of change and identify new approaches. In some cases, there are attempts to rethink the commissioning process, making it more agile and inclusive.

The reports can be accessed here: https://bit.ly/PledgeProgressReports