Step Forward is an NHS Psychology Service supporting adults who have experienced trauma, and as such struggle to manage difficult emotions. In 2020, the Black Lives Matter movement inspired us to reflect deeply on the racial inequalities in mental health care. This led to the development of our Widening Access initiative, a collaborative team effort aimed at tackling the barriers faced by minoritised ethnic communities in accessing mental health support.

Now our Widening Access agenda is a key part of our work. The initiative is led by three women from Global Majority backgrounds, working in different roles within our psychological service. We bring our diverse perspectives which have aided our attempts to begin to break down barriers to accessing our service. Our lived experiences of racism have fuelled our passion and motivation to create equal opportunities within healthcare across communities. The initiative is also supported by the wider team, who share our service commitment to equity and inclusion.

Improving Access to Care
We’ve worked to make it easier for people to connect with our service by simplifying referral processes based on feedback from community conversations. Recognising that some groups face additional challenges, we prioritise clients from minoritised ethnic backgrounds at assessment and intervention stages. We also revised our information materials, translating key documents into the main languages spoken within the community we serve.

Supporting Our Staff
We understand that supporting staff wellbeing is essential to providing inclusive care. To help, we created dedicated peer support groups and delivered training sessions that encourage open and respectful conversations about identity and discrimination. This ongoing support provides safe spaces for staff to reflect, share experiences and learn, helping them feel better equipped to deliver care to others.

Service Development and Collaboration
Our dedicated working group meets regularly to review progress, share learning and develop practical solutions that improve access and inclusion. This team approach helps ensure our work stays relevant and responsive to the needs of our staff and the communities we serve.

Research and Evaluation
We’ve undertaken research to better understand the experiences of both staff and service users, and we regularly review service data to monitor access and outcomes. It’s important to us that service users see their experiences and feedback reflected in real changes, building trust and showing that their voices matter. Our approach combines practical actions to improve access for service users, and initiatives that support staff development and wellbeing. We are committed to ongoing reflection, learning and change to build a fairer mental health service for all communities.

Looking Ahead
We know that there is more work to do. We want to involve more voices from the communities we support and improve how we collect and use data to understand where barriers remain. We’ll keep building on partnerships and training to work towards our goal of meeting the needs of our communities.