A new chapter on our journey to racial equity: launching PCREF at LYPFT

On 23 April 2025, over 150 colleagues from across LYPFT and our partners came together for the launch webinar of the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF) - the NHS’s first-ever anti-racism framework for mental health trusts and service providers across England - at our Trust.

We’re proud that LYPFT has been selected as one of the national early implementer sites.

PCREF (pronounced “pee-cref”) is a mandatory framework that supports us on our journey to becoming an actively anti-racist organisation. It calls on us to co-produce and implement concrete actions that reduce racial inequalities in mental health services – and it will form part of future Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections.

“inspiring,” “informative,” and “galvanising.”

This work is also central to our Improving Health Equity Strategy, helping us ensure our services are fairer, more inclusive, and truly meet the needs of our communities.

The webinar was described by attendees as “inspiring,” “informative,” and “galvanising.” It marked not just the start of our PCREF journey, but a moment for all of us to reflect on progress, collaborate, and commit to creating a more equitable future.

“Every voice should be heard, every challenge addressed”

Our Medical Director Chris Hosker opened the event with these words and by highlighting the passion and dedication of the many individuals working towards a fairer mental health system. The PCREF launch is a recognition of this effort – and a call to action for all of us.

We were honoured to be joined by Cllr Dr Jacqui Dyer MBE, a leading national voice on mental health equalities and a driving force behind PCREF. Her personal and professional insights helped ground the event in the lived experience that this work is all about.

Jacqui has decades of experience as a mental health service user and as a carer for her siblings. Her powerful testimony reminded us that behind every statistic is a person – and a story. She shared the heartbreak of losing two of her brothers, Carlton and Barry, while they were under the care of mental health services. “If this is what’s happening to my family,” she said, “I’m scared that other families will experience what I’ve experienced.”

In a moving moment, she told us how she channels her pain to help others:

“I have a lot of faith that we can learn from these tragedies. I use my experiences to make public services better.”

Jacqui’s experiences are deeply saddening – and tragically, they are not unique…

The numbers don’t lie

Through our PCREF work at LYPFT, we’ve been diving into our local data, and the picture it paints is just as troubling as Jacqui’s story. The data echoes the structural inequalities present in the system.

Nationally, Black adults have the lowest mental health treatment rate of any ethnic group.
Leeds has become more diverse: 26.6% of residents now come from ethnically diverse backgrounds (Census 2021), compared to 19% in 2011. In Leeds our racialised communities are densely populated in our most deprived areas.
Further, in these areas, people are more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act (1983).
At LYPFT, people from Black and mixed ethnic backgrounds are twice as likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act as white people.
They are also twice as likely to be admitted to a mental health ward via crisis services.
Nationally, Black people were 3.5 times more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act in the year to March 2023.

“More of the same” is not an option.

It’s often said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Despite efforts across the system, outcomes are not improving. In some cases, they’re getting worse. Gaps in experience, particularly around detentions, have widened.

The case for change is clear, and PCREF challenges us to do things differently.

“Isn’t this a system issue?”

It’s easy to feel powerless in the face of such entrenched inequalities. There are wider social and economic factors at play – including historic underfunding, fragmented pathways, and systemic racism.

But as Jacqui reminded us, systems and organisations are made up of people. LYPFT isn’t something separate. We are LYPFT. This work belongs to all of us.

Talking about racism can feel uncomfortable. But if we don’t name it, we can’t change it.

Naming racism and recognising how it manifests in our structures, policies, and cultures is the first step. Only then can we design strategies that create meaningful, lasting change.

Three steps to success

PCREF gives us a structured, nationally mandated way forward. Jacqui described it as a “race equity accountability framework” – and that’s exactly what it is: a structured approach to identify disparities, act on them, and ensure people with lived experience are central to that process.

At LYPFT, our PCREF work is focused on three key areas:

Leadership and governance: Our Trust board will lead on the establishment and monitoring of the new Improving Health Equity Strategic Plan to reduce health inequalities.
Understanding our data: new data set on improvements in reducing health inequalities will be published, as well as details on ethnicity in all existing data we collect.
Feedback mechanisms: visible and effective ways for patients and carers to feedback, as well as clear processes to act and report on that feedback.

Our aim is simple: to ensure people from racialised communities, and their families and carers, feel confident giving feedback, know their voices will be heard, and are actively involved in shaping services that work for them. It’s about improving outcomes and building trust.

Our webinar marked the launch of our action plan which sets out the detail.

You can download our LYPFT PCREF Action Plan 2024 – 2027 on our PCREF web page.

How you can get involved right now

Join us – Take part in our workshops, events, and meetings to help shape the direction of this work.
To get involved, contact the Improving Health Equity Team at lmh-tr.healthequity@nhs.net
Share feedback – Watch the webinar recording and download the slide pack.

Complete two short feedback forms:

Partnership work feedback – tell us about any work you’re doing on racial equity. (Link coming soon)
Anonymous feedback – share your ideas or experiences related to PCREF. (Link coming soon)

3) Join a listening event (20 May 2025) – Hosted by the West Yorkshire ICB Mental Health and Learning Disability Programme, this event focuses on how we listen to those with the lived experience and expertise to help develop anti-racist mental health services. There are limited places for those working around HR, staff, and patient engagement in particular. Contact lmh-tr.healthequity@nhs.net.

Thank you to everyone who attended the launch, asked questions, shared reflections, and committed to this journey. Let’s go forward with purpose – and make a meaningful difference, together.