Priority 4
Access to mental health services for migrants, refugees and diaspora communities
For many people in south London, Covid-19 has brought on new mental health challenges – or made existing challenges worse. The need to improve access to support and appropriate services has never been greater.
This increased need is particularly felt by those who already experience disadvantage in our society, particularly Black, African, Caribbean and mixed heritage communities, and migrants, refugees, and diaspora groups.
Our survey found that 48 percent of people do not know where to go for support. This rises to 54 percent for Black, African, and Caribbean community members, two in five of whom face a lack of mental health services (39 percent). Community leaders from migrant, refugee and diaspora communities highlight specific issues blocking access including language and cultural barriers, lack of trust in the NHS, complicated forms, not understanding the system and fear of personal data being shared beyond the service.
What our communities asked for:
NHS and local authorities to:
4.1 Invest in Mental Health practitioners embedded in community organisations, to build trust and provide services for refugee, migrant and diaspora communities
4.2 Work towards developing a culturally competent workforce
4.3 Encourage your local GP surgeries to register as ‘Safer Surgeries’
What we are doing:
4.1 Community embedded worker programme
The community asked us to invest in mental health practitioners to support the needs of refugee, migrant and diaspora communities. To meet this goal, we have begun scoping a new Community Embedded Worker role. Through this, we will fund a mental health clinical advisor to work with marginalised migrant and diaspora groups to provide clinical mental health and well-being support for vulnerable individuals at risk of mental ill-health. The advisor will work with key community organisations to understand needs, develop culturally relevant material, and train community leaders to give low level support so that the benefits of the work can be maintained at a local level. In 2021, we are piloting the scheme in Southwark and Lambeth, with a view to rolling it out across south London if it is successful. Ethnicity and Mental Health Improvement Project (EMHIP) South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust is working with Ethnicity and Mental Health Improvement Project (EMHIP) to reduce ethnic inequalities in access, experience and outcome of mental health care.
4.2 Building cultural capability
We are committed to continuing to involve communities in developing solutions to entrenched healthcare inequalities and reducing structural barriers. Across the three mental health trusts in south London, supported by South London and Maudsley’s Mental Health Promotion Team and Citizens UK, we will be supporting a programme of staff training to boost cultural capabilities.
4.3 Promoting Safe Surgeries
The Safe Surgeries Network, run by Doctors of the World, recognises GP practices that commit to taking steps to tackle the barriers faced by many migrants in accessing healthcare. Our ambition is for all south London surgeries to be ‘safe surgeries’. We will be working with Doctors of the World to audit take up within south London and promote and encourage local GP surgeries to register as ‘Safe Surgeries’.