On Tuesday, 25th March, Elysium Healthcare held an important in-person event at Wellesley Hospital to mark the conclusion of their National Mental Health Act Quality Improvement Project. The event focused on addressing issues of racial inequality and mental health care.
The event also provided an opportunity to discuss the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF), an initiative developed by NHS England and Improvement to address mental health inequalities across different racial groups. As a key mental health service provider, Elysium Healthcare demonstrated its commitment to this framework through facilitated workshops and discussion sessions.
Elysium Healthcare has outlined its primary objectives for PCREF implementation. We aim to become an anti-racist organisation, focusing on improving patient data collection, analysis, and feedback. Another goal is to embed cultural and race inequity awareness to enable culturally appropriate care. We also seek to increase co-production and partnership working, ensuring a more inclusive approach to mental health services. Elysium’s PCREF Action Plan can be found here Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF) Action Plan.
The event at Wellesley featured discussions with staff and patients, designed to raise awareness about racism and its impact, provide a safe space to share experiences and perspectives, and
generate ideas for constructive change and anti-racism support.
The workshop session was led by Jide Ashimi, an independent consultant and advisor specialising in Culture, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (CEDI). With extensive experience in organisational culture change and anti-racism strategies, Ashimi brought expertise to facilitate productive discussions. His background in Psychology, Occupational Psychology, Black Psychology, and African-Centred Therapy enabled him to create an insightful approach to the workshop.
Staff in attendance at the Wellesley event commented: “It was very informative, and good to see the co-produced work of the service users and staff. The engagement from the service users and how invaluable the project meant to them was impressive and evidenced the effectiveness of coproduction”.
Another said that they “found the sessions very informative, eye-opening, it was a difficult conversation, but it was good to see how staff engaged in the discussions.”
A third staff member added, “It was good, informative, felt like it’s generated from drive to effect change, and for the first time, it was taken seriously”.
The event produced actionable insights and next steps that will enhance patient care at Elysium Healthcare.