Black people in Berkshire three times more likely to be detained under Mental Health Act – Maidenhead Advertiser

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Adrian Williams
10:24AM, Monday 02 June 2025
Black people are ‘disproportionately’ more likely to be detained against their will for mental health reasons compared to white people in Berkshire, a new report has shown.
Mind, a charity that aims to improve the lives of people experiencing mental health problems, has published a new report looking into this.
It examined the experiences of black people detained under the Mental Health Act in Berkshire, as well as broader themes relating to black people’s access to mental health care and support.
The data, looking at the years 2021 to 2023, showed that black people were more than three times more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act than white people in Berkshire.
Being detained under the Mental Health Act (often called being ‘sectioned’) means a person is taken to hospital and kept there for assessment or treatment without their consent, because of serious concerns about their mental health.
Mind in Berkshire was commissioned to engage with black communities, local staff, and community groups to understand the context behind these figures better and identify themes that may help inform future service development.
The report draws on feedback from more than 180 people and highlights several key themes, including:
Jess Willsher and Joel Rose, co-CEOs of Mind in Berkshire, said this report was a key step in understanding the experiences of black communities within mental health systems.
“It is important that these findings now lead to constructive and collaborative change, across the system, so that disparities are reduced and experiences improve,” they said in a statement.
The report was commissioned by Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (BHFT) as part of a wider programme of work addressing inequalities in local mental health services.
For the last two years BHFT has had a dedicated Mental Health Act Detention project which aims to understand and address these longstanding racial inequalities.
Dr Kathryn MacDermott, SRO of this project, said: “Nationally and within Berkshire, black people are disproportionately more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act 1983.
“We welcome the findings of the report and will continue to work with Mind in Berkshire, embedding learnings from the report within [our] ongoing work.”
Among Mind’s recommendations is a ‘clear statement of commitment to earn the trust of black communities.’
“Making this a priority and committing sustained effort over a period of time will be needed to bring about the change the Trust wants to see,” they wrote in their report.
Other recommendations include cultural awareness training ‘rolled out across all levels of the Trust’, and improved representation of black people as ‘patient experts’ – people with lived experience of a condition who use it to contribute to healthcare work, research and policy.
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