Black Thrive Global statement on the Mental Health Bill receiving Royal Assent
Black Thrive Global welcomes the Mental Health Bill receiving Royal Assent as a long-overdue opportunity to reform a system that has caused disproportionate harm to Black communities for decades.
We recognise the government’s acknowledgement that Black people are more likely to be detained under mental health legislation, experience coercive interventions, and receive poorer outcomes. The commitment to modernising mental health law and strengthening patient rights is an important step forward.
However, legislation alone will not end racial inequality in mental health care.
For Black communities, the real test of this Act will be how it is implemented, how accountability is enforced, and whether racial equity is embedded as a non-negotiable priority rather than an aspiration.
Black Thrive Global has consistently called for:
- A statutory and fully resourced approach to tackling racial disparities, including the robust implementation of the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF)
- Meaningful involvement of Black communities in the design, delivery, and oversight of mental health services
- A shift away from coercive, crisis-led responses towards prevention, early intervention, and culturally responsive support
We remain concerned that without clear enforcement mechanisms, sustained funding, and transparent monitoring of outcomes by race, the Act risks repeating a familiar pattern: strong intentions without transformative impact for those most affected.
As this legislation moves into implementation, Black Thrive Global calls on government, NHS bodies, and local systems to work in genuine partnership with Black communities to ensure that reforms lead to measurable reductions in detention, restraint, and unequal treatment, and improvements in trust, safety, and wellbeing.
We stand ready to support this work and will continue to hold systems to account until racial equity in mental health is not the exception, but the standard.