The Mayor wants to ensure that every Londoner receives the best care for mental health, no matter their background.
So he has joined London's NHS, ambulance, police, mental health and social services to launch new guidelines to improve the care of vulnerable Londoners facing a mental health crisis.
This new guidance from the Healthy London Partnership, will help to make sure that they are offered:
- timely, high quality care
- in an appropriate location
- that puts their needs first
In future, Londoners should have a more respectful, responsive and coordinated experience with: police and ambulance services, NHS A&E departments, as well as social and mental health services.
Better care for all communities
A big focus for the new guidance is addressing the much higher number of people from BAME communities (Black Asian, Minority and Ethnic), who are being detained under the Mental Health Act.
The Mental Health bulletin 2015 showed that for every 100 mental health patients who spent time at hospital:
- 56.9 were Black and Black British
- 50 were Asian and Asian British
The Mayor is clear that these serious inequalities cannot continue:
Improving mental health services in London was in my manifesto and now I’ve made it one of my top priorities in my Health Inequality Strategy.
I want every Londoner to know that should they or a loved one face a mental health crisis, they will receive the best possible care across all our emergency and healthcare services.
Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London
Visit the Healthy London Partnership for more information on Mental Health Crisis Care.