Acting on health inequalities and rebuilding trust in the health system

We’re partnering with NHS South East London to improve the experiences and health of people from Black communities in the London Boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark, Lewisham, Greenwich, Bexley and Bromley.

At the heart of this partnership is a new way of working to build trust in the health service by reshaping Black people’s experience of maternal and mental health care. We are doing this by sharing power and working with communities to co-create new models of care – bringing together local residents and health stakeholders to rethink, design and develop innovative solutions that better meet their needs.

The context

People from Black and other racially minoritised communities in London experience significant inequalities when it comes to their health – for a combination of social, economic and environmental reasons.

Alongside this is a growing distrust and apathy towards the healthcare system.

The reasons expressed for this distrust are diverse and include experiencing discriminatory practices in healthcare settings, being misdiagnosed, being prescribed the wrong medication and having traumatic experiences.

In 2022, a report commissioned by the Black Equity Organisation found that nearly two thirds of Black respondents had ‘experienced prejudice from doctors and other staff in healthcare settings’, with the proportion being even higher – at 75% – among respondents aged 18 to 34.

Community-led research commissioned by Centric explored this further – and highlighted the disparities experienced by Black people when accessing maternal and mental health care. Whilst women overall are having healthier and safer pregnancies and childbirth, Black women are more than twice as likely to die in childbirth than white women.

Traumatic experiences during childbirth and reports of inadequate pain relief are also significantly higher for women from Black backgrounds.

These experiences can have a compounding impact on how people from Black backgrounds access healthcare services and treatments.

The 2018 Race Disparity Audit reported that Black men are more than ten times as likely to have experienced a psychotic disorder within the past year as White men. However, Black adults are the least likely to receive treatment for a mental health condition – whether medication, counselling or therapy – and are the most likely to have been detained under the Mental Health Act.

Distrust in the mental health service in Black communities is reinforced through experiences of greater rates of enforced admission to psychiatric wards and harsher treatment during their detention.

Working in partnership for south east London

Our partnership with NHS South East London aims to tackle health inequalities caused by systemic racism and rebuild trust in the healthcare system for Black communities.

Throughout our partnership we’ll keep these principles:

• Rebuilding trust with communities: we are sharing power with communities and designing more responsive services that meet their needs. Our aim is to build lasting trust in the healthcare system, strengthen relationships and improve health outcomes for marginalised communities.
• Developing innovative models of care: our work aims to create locally designed, community-led models of care that reduce health inequalities in maternal and mental health. We’ll share what we’ve learnt with our stakeholders, policymakers and NHS Trusts beyond south east London.
• Supporting communities: we want to strengthen community infrastructure by backing community-led projects, building long-term connections and new approaches to community organisation.
• Sharing power sustainably: our projects share power with communities to ensure effective delivery while keeping the NHS accountable and using public funds responsibly.
• Focusing on sustainability and systems change: we want to change the way that the healthcare system does things by supporting projects to have an impact beyond the duration of our funding.

What we’ve done so far

Scoping phase:

Community-led research explored the issues Black communities face when accessing health services. This informed the development of the Black Maternal Health and Black Mental Health programmes. In 2024, we tested delivery and governance models with partners and appointed a learning partner to embed equity, co-production, and continuous learning.

Planning phase:

In early 2025, we appointed a project lead to connect partners and embed the work across south east London. We developed a governance framework to amplify community voices and launched a Black Maternal Health Expert Reference Group (ERG) to guide strategy and decision-making.

Design phase:

A workshop with over 80 participants, including Black mothers, community leaders, healthcare workers, academics, and policymakers, focused on Black women’s experiences in maternal healthcare. It identified systemic issues and explored fifteen key areas for action.

Maternal Health funding launch:

In November 2025 we launched a £1.5 million fund for community groups in south east London to improve care for Black mothers and babies. Grants will support projects across different stages of the maternity and neonatal journey including pre-conception, pregnancy, birth, post-birth and early specialist care.

Looking forward

2026 will be an exciting year for the partnership. We will start awarding grants and begin the delivery phase of the Black Maternal Health programme. The Black Mental Health programme will also launch, starting with a workshop to explore solutions and centre the voices of people with lived experience, leading into a grant-making process later in the year.

By bringing stakeholders together to share power and understand each other better, we aim to move closer to health equity and build trust where it is weak or missing.