Published 28 August 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b3518
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b3518

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NHS is still failing older minority ethnic patients who are mentally ill

Adrian O’Dowd

1 Margate

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The UK NHS is still failing older ethnic minority patients who are mentally ill, concludes a report from the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Although some examples of good practice exist, Psychiatric Services for Black and Minority Ethnic Older People claims that progress in developing and improving services for them "has been slow," with little improvement made since the publication of the college’s previous report on the matter in 2001.

Research shows that dementia and depression are as common, or more common, in older people from minority ethnic groups in the United Kingdom than among older white UK residents, says the report, but they have poor access to mental health services.

In 2001 an estimated 8.2% of the population in England and Wales came from black and minority ethnic backgrounds and were over the age of 65—up from 3% in 1991. And in the past decade the mental health of these . . . [Full text of this article]


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