Mental health inequalities experienced by Black communities in Berkshire explored in new report
Mind in Berkshire heard from more than 180 people on several key themes relating to Black people's access to mental health care and support.
Between 2021 and 2023, data showed that Black individuals were over three times more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act than white individuals in the county.
The charity was commissioned by the local NHS Trust to engage with Black communities to understand the context behind these figures better and identify themes that may help inform future service development.
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Trust said it has a dedicated project aimed at understanding and addressing the issues.
The feedback explored themes of:
Mind in Berkshire is a partnership between two mental health charities, Oxfordshire Mind and Buckinghamshire Mind.
Jess Willsher and Joel Rose, Co-CEOs of Mind in Berkshire said: "This report, a product of our collective efforts, represents an important step in understanding the experiences and perspectives of Black communities in Berkshire about mental health services.
"We are grateful to everyone who contributed so openly to this engagement.
"It is important that these findings now lead to constructive and collaborative change, across the system, so that disparities are reduced and experiences improve."
Dr. Kathryn MacDermott, SRO of the Mental Health Act Detentions Project at Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Nationally and within Berkshire, Black people are disproportionately more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act 1983.
"For the last two years, Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust have had a dedicated Mental Health Act Detention project which aims to understand and address these longstanding racial inequalities.
"We welcome the findings of the report and will continue to work with Mind in Berkshire, embedding learnings from the report within the ongoing work we are doing."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Graziadaily
a day ago
- Graziadaily
Air Pollution is Quietly Harming Black Families
I was walking my children to school in South East London, heavily pregnant with my third child, when I started noticing patterns in my daughter's health. My four-year-old, once energetic, began falling ill repeatedly. One day during PE, I received a call from the school receptionist, saying my daughter wasn't well. While the other children were playing, she was slumped to the side of the playground, withdrawn and not engaging. I rushed to collect her and took her to Lewisham Hospital, expecting a standard wait. Instead, they took one look at her and admitted her immediately. She was diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia, one of the leading causes of death in children under five. That moment was a turning point. Around the same time, I learned about Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of death. She lived just down the road from us. That's when the pieces started connecting. The constant exposure to polluted air wasn't just uncomfortable, it was potentially fatal. At the time, I was serving as the Maternity Voices Partnership Chair at St Thomas' Hospital, working to amplify Black mothers' voices in healthcare systems. But so many of our discussions focused only on what happened in the hospital — biases, dismissals, and inequalities in care. No one was asking why Black women were arriving sicker, more stressed, or with higher risk pregnancies to begin with. So the campaign began there. I founded Global Black Maternal Health soon afterwards, but quickly realised this wasn't just a Black maternal health issue. It's a child health issue. An education issue. An environmental issue. That's why we changed our name to Global Child and Maternal Health. And that name change matters. It signals the full arc of our work, from pregnancy to childhood, from research to policy, from data to direct community support. When I began this work in 2018 to 2019, Black women in the UK were five times more likely to die during pregnancy and childbirth, and are still twice as likely to experience stillbirth. We also know that women exposed to high levels of air pollution are twice as likely to experience stillbirths, and face heightened risk for preterm birth, low birth weight, preeclampsia, and other complications. After listening to the stories of other Black and minority ethnic mothers, I began to research and found that Black women are three times more likely to live in areas with the highest levels of air pollution, according to a report from the Mayor of London's office. These aren't just statistics, they're structural conditions shaped by racism, poverty, and housing injustice. I also launched the Black Child Clean Air campaign, which includes a range of initiatives — one of them being an annual conference held in Parliament. This event is a vital space where policymakers, community members, environmental justice advocates, and government officials come together. Our goal is to ensure the environmental justice movement is centred on an intersectional lens — recognising how race, health, and environment intertwine to impact Black children and families disproportionately. The campaign is built on the findings of our Black Child Clean Air report, published every three years and available on our website. This report explores the attitudes, experiences, and behaviours of Black women in the UK who are pregnant or have young children up to five years old. It highlights the real-life challenges faced by families living in polluted environments and provides evidence-based recommendations for policy and practice. What is truly important to us is that communities like ours are leading on our own data and narratives. We live by the philosophy of 'nothing about us without us'. We are not asking to be included in conversations already set by others — we are building our own. We are designing and leading projects because the health and lives of our babies, our children, and ourselves as parents deserve nothing less than our own voice, our own power, and our own solutions. Our conference, which was held in June, created a platform where lived experience shapes policy, dialogue turns into action, and communities have the power to demand systemic change. It amplified voices too often excluded and builds the collective power needed to fight for clean air equity. _Agnes Agyepong is a mother of three and the founder and CEO of Global Child and Maternal Health. She's also launched the Black Child Clean Air campaign which was born from a deeply personal moment. _
Daily Mirror
6 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Brain dead pregnant woman's family issue tragic update after baby cut out
The case of Adriana Smith sparked controversy around the world after the pregnant Black woman was kept on life support machines for months after her death, in order for her unborn baby to survive The family of a pregnant brain-dead woman who was kept on life support to incubate her premature foetus will live-stream her funeral to thank the people who donated to her medical funds. Adriana Smith was a 30-year-old nurse who died in February this year after suffering from severe headaches. She was around nine weeks' pregnant at the time, and had a seven-year-old existing son. The day after being sent home from hospital, her boyfriend woke to the sounds of her gasping for air - but when she was rushed back to hospital, the pregnant mum was found to have blood clots on her brain. After she was declared brain-dead - meaning there was zero chance of her ever recovering and regaining consciousness - Adriana was hooked up to life-support machines, which artificially kept blood pumping around her body. Thanks to Georgia's draconian pro-life laws, which ban abortion once a foetal heartbeat can be detected, doctors refused to take Adriana off the machines, instead planning to keep her body as an incubator until the foetus had reached viability in August. Despite Adriana's family's pleas to let their daughter rest in peace,Emory University Hospital in Atlanta said it uses "consensus from clinical experts, medical literature, and legal guidance to support our providers" as they make treatment recommendations "in compliance with Georgia's abortion laws and all other applicable laws". It added: "Our top priorities continue to be the safety and wellbeing of the patients we serve." The foetus, which Adriana's family named 'Chance', was diagnosed in the womb with severe medical problems, and Adriana's mother April Newkirk said at the time they weren't even sure if he would survive the birth. He could, she said, be born with life-threatening disabilities which would affect his quality of life. After four months of being kept on life support, doctors finally delivered Chance via C-section in the early hours of June 13. He weighed just 538g, less than two pounds, but was born living at 27 weeks' gestation. Doctors now say he is in a critical but stable condition. Ms Newkirk wrote six days later, "Baby chance is doing good, keep praying it very early." She added: "I can't believe this I [can't] sleep but my God I serve I trust him I'm going to be strong but I'm hurting so bad inside." She later told press that her daughter was barely six months pregnant when Chance was cut out of Adriana's womb, but he was "expected to be okay". "He's just fighting. We just want prayers for him," she said, adding that Chance was "fighting for his life" in neo-natal intensive care. READ MORE: Legally dead pregnant mum being kept alive on life support as 'incubator' for foetus Shortly after the operation, doctors finally turned off the machines that had prolonged Adriana's bodily functions and returned her remains to her devastated family. The funeral will now be held on Saturday June 28, and Ms Newkirk has agreed to live-stream the ceremony so that the hundreds of thousands of people around the world who've been gripped by Adriana's ordeal can help say their goodbyes. "For everyone around the world. I am very grateful and thankful to you for your support," she wrote on the family's GoFundMe page, which has raised nearly $440,000 (£320,000) in donations for medical fees. "Adriana Smith's funeral will be livestream. And as soon as I get the link, I will share it for everyone to join me and my family. To say our final Farwell until we meet again my daughter," she added. "I want to thank everyone for the support that I received from each and every one of you. I am so grateful to have people from all over the world support. Please continue to pray for me and my family. I will update Monday about baby Chance." Adriana's case has sparked debate around the world about America's clampdown on abortion and women's reproductive rights. Republican lawmakers in Georgia brought in the LIFE bill shortly after the Supreme Court struck down Roe vs Wade, which had allowed women to access abortion for 50 years, which severely restricts women from seeking termination of their pregnancy after around six weeks.
STV News
6 days ago
- STV News
One child in every school class born as a result of IVF
The equivalent of almost one child in every classroom in the UK is now born as a result IVF fertility treatment, new figures suggest. Almost 21,000 babies were born from IVF in 2023, compared to 8,700 in 2000, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) said. The authors of the fertility regulator's latest report wrote: 'IVF births are making up a higher proportion of all UK births over time, increasing from 1.3% in 2000 to 3.1% in 2023. 'This means around one in 32 UK births in 2023 were via IVF – roughly one child in every classroom – compared to one in 43 in 2013.' The HFEA said that its latest figures show the 'changing landscape' of fertility care in the UK. Overall, 52,400 patients had ,ore than 77,500 in vitro fertilisation (IVF) cycles at UK fertility clinics in 2023. Some 11% of births to women aged 40-44 were a result of IVF, increasing from 4% in 2000 and accounting for 0.5% of all births, HFEA said. The data also reveal a rise in the proportion of women freezing their eggs – a rise from 4,700 in 2022 to 6,900 in 2023 – but the HFEA said that the number of patients using their stored frozen eggs in treatment remains 'low'. Meanwhile the HFEA also said that in 2023, around 820 babies were born following donor insemination (DI) treatment. The figures also show a reduction in the number of IVF treatments funded by the NHS. The proportion of NHS-funded IVF cycles declined from 35% in 2019 to 27% in 2023 in the UK, decreasing most in England, the HFEA said. More than half (54%) of IVF cycles in Scotland were funded by the NHS in 2023, compared to 49% in Northern Ireland; 33% in Wales; and 24% in England. The HFEA also raised concerns about racial disparities in IVF. It said that in recent years, Asian and black patients have had lower birth rates compared to white patients and those from a mixed ethnic background. Julia Chain, chairwoman of the HFEA, said: 'IVF is helping more people have babies including patients of different ages and family types. 'One in 32 of all UK births are from IVF and 11% of all UK births are to women aged 40-44 who had IVF. 'We are also seeing more single patients and female same-sex couples having IVF. 'These findings highlight the changing landscape of the UK fertility sector and how it could develop in the years to come. 'However, we are very concerned to see that black and Asian patients continue to have lower IVF birth rates compared to other patient groups, and our recent survey found that Asian and Black patients are less likely to report being satisfied with their fertility treatment.' Data from the Office for National Statistics show that the fertility rate in England and Wales in 2023 was 1.44 children per woman – the lowest level on record. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
