Church leaders alerted to mental health crisis in black community

A public call has been made to church leader to step up their role in helping to combat the mental health crisis in the African Caribbean community at one of the major final events in the mental health sectors calendar for 2007.

Entitled Jesus - The Real Reason for This Season - the Gospel Explosion was held in central London this month by the human rights campaigns group BMH UK in association with the Kensington and Chelsea Mental Health Carers Association.

The event was held to keep the focus on the hundreds of thousands of patients locked up in secure and medium secure settings over the Christmas season.

Pastor Ade Omooba, co-founder of Coherent and Cohesive Voice, joined leading clinicians, church leaders, politicians and community activist at this end or year celebration that also marked the importance of working together for change.

"There is an important role for all churches, but especially black majority churches, in turning this situation around. The strength of joint working cannot be underestimated," Pastor Omooba said.

Award winning gospel artist Alan Charles, MOBO award nominee for best gospel act 2006, Adelade MacKenzie, winner of the 'Nina Simone' Award by the Black Women in Arts Foundation 2007, and John Fisher & IDMC London Urban Gospel Choir, gave up their time and talents to support the event.

The introduction of 2007 Mental Health Act in July marked the biggest change in mental health law in almost 25 years. BMH UK used the event to update guests on the developments since the new law has been passed, touching on the Deaths In Custody report that has revealed a three fold increase in the deaths of patients detained under mental health settings in the last 12 months.

They also informed the audience on the latest Count Me In Census report that shows an increase in the numbers of black patients being detained despite a national decline in hospital admission rates.

"We have not been aware as we might have been in the past over this issue but it is important for us to ensure that, that we never let people from our community be treated as less than human because then it gives an unwitting license for the services to do the same," said Pastor Omooba.

"We need to have a Stephen Lawrence moment in this area because right now mental health is in the twilight zone in the black community."

Pastor Omooba said he was "astounded" to see the "huge over representation of black people in the most secure wards" during visits to mental health hospitals across London.

"It is horrendous to see rows and rows of black people locked up in these places where we know they get treated badly because the services are institutionally racist," Lee Jasper, chair of the African Caribbean Mental Health Commission, told the London audience.

Speakers highlighted the importance of agreeing on a strategy to address the widespread discrimination which has led to patients from African Caribbean communities being more likely to be forcibly restrained, placed in seclusion, misdiagnosed, and over medicated than any other ethnic group.

"This is a political issue and the developments we have seen with the introduction of the new Mental Health Act and the findings of the latest census make it clear that things will only change through political pressure," academic and consultant psychiatrist professor Suman Fernando said.

Professor Fernando publicly refused an OBE for his work in mental health this year in protest over the racist provisions within the 2007 Mental Health Act.

He warned the audience: "The system has great problems of racism, so don't just leave your friend or family to the system expecting them to do the best for them because they won't."

He pointed to the latest census which showed that black patients are more likely to be restrained than any other ethnic group.

2008 will mark the 10th anniversary of the death of young black man, David Bennett, in custody after a team of up to five nurses held him face down for almost half an hour.

"A real political commitment is needed from the Government if we want to avoid seeing other families lose their loved one in such horrific ways," Matilda MacAttram director of Black Mental Health UK said.