Patient's death 'reveals institutional racism' in NHS

A bleak picture of "institutional racism" in the NHS was painted yesterday in a report into the death of a schizophrenic black man who died after being restrained by staff in a mental health clinic.

The report into the death of David "Rocky" Bennett called for staff working with the mentally ill to be trained in "cultural awareness and sensitivity" as ethnic minority patients feared they would face prejudice in hospital. Black people suffering from schizophrenia tended to receive higher doses of anti-psychotic medication than similar white people and were usually regarded as more aggressive and more difficult to treat, it said.

Mr Bennett, 38, who had suffered mental health problems for 18 years, died in 1998 at the Norvic Clinic, a medium-secure unit in Norwich. His death came after he was pinned face-down on the floor for 25 minutes by at least three nurses.

The inquest into his death heard the nurses used inappropriate restraint procedures and that Mr Bennett had been given unauthorised doses of medication in the last days of his life. Sir John Blofeld, a retired High Court judge, who led the inquiry, criticised nursing staff, health service managers and police in his report, but also broadened his comments into a demand for change in the NHS.

"The inquiry believes institutional racism is present throughout the NHS and greater effort is needed to combat it. Until that problem is addressed, people from black and minority ethnic communities will not be treated fairly,"the report said.

"Black and minority ethnic communities have a fear of the NHS: that if they engage with the mental health services they will be 'locked up for a very long time, if not for life, and treated with medication which may eventually kill them'. The inquiry calls on ministers to acknowledge the presence of institutional racism ... and to eradicate it."

Dr Tony Jewell, of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Strategic Health Authority, which commissioned the report, said: "The NHS is committed to tackling racism."

Sadiq Khan, the Bennett family's solicitor, said: "We need an action plan, confirmation of the time scales, ministerial priorities and a committee to implement the recommendations."