Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (Sussex)
DRI is proud to be a leading community partner, working closely with Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to embed the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework principles into their services.
The Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF) is NHS England’s first-ever anti-racism framework, designed to support trusts and providers in becoming actively anti-racist organisations. It holds them accountable for co-producing and implementing concrete actions to address and reduce racial inequalities within their services.
We have been working closely with Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SPFT) to:
- Co-produce the development and delivery of the PCREF.
- Understand the experiences of ethnically diverse people when accessing health services.
- Provide clear, race-conscious, and culturally and linguistically accessible information about how to access support.
- Co-facilitate engagement activities, information sessions, and working group meetings, including the steering group, with community members, voluntary sector partners, and SPFT.
DRI will also be involved in supporting SPFT’s main strands of the PCREF, including staff competencies, engagement, co-production and data improvement.
By taking an active role in the implementation of the PCREF, we aim to change the system. This work aims to begin building stronger, trust-based relationships between local communities and healthcare providers.
Launch event
26th of February, 2025, Worthing.
Dr Patrick Nyikavaranda spoke at the Sussex launch of PCREF on Wednesday, 26th of February, 2025, held at SPFT’s headquarters in Worthing.
In his presentation, “Building Bridges With Our Communities for Lasting Change,” Patrick highlighted the importance of amplifying community voices and ensuring equitable access to mental health, neurodivergent, and learning disability support.
First community engagement event
1st of May, 2025, Brighton.
The engagement event, funded by Heads On, aimed to share SPFT’s understanding of people’s experiences with its services, whether as service users or carers, and to hear directly from community members about whether this understanding was accurate or if anything important had been missed.
It was also an opportunity to answer questions, challenge common myths about mental health services, provide clear information on how to access support, and, most importantly, begin building trust.
SPFT’s Chief Executive, Dr Jane Padmore, and Chief Medical Officer, Dr Oliver Dale, attended the event to show their support for this important conversation.
“We see this as the beginning of an ongoing dialogue—one where we listen, learn, and work together to improve our services” – Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
56 people were in attendance, including 35 community members, advocates, representatives from voluntary and faith organisations, as well as people with lived experiences of mental health issues and carers. There were also 21 NHS and local authorities representatives among the crowd.
Next steps
DRI will continue to support SPFT through PCREF’s communications strand, strategic delivery meetings, community and Experts by Experience steering groups, as well as the main PCREF meetings.
Vandu Training, offers Anti-racism workshops for organisations and teams in the UK. If you’re interested in what they’re offering, head over to their website.
We will share more information about our next steps soon.