Tag Archives: ethnic mental health carers

Gatekeeping Care – PCREF Poetry on Minority Ethnic Mental Health Carers

By Matthew McKenzie

My latest poetry video, “Gatekeeping Care,” explores the barriers minority ethnic unpaid carers can face when trying to navigate mental health services.

This is where unwritten rules, complicated medical language and unexplained carer rights can leave people struggling to understand how to obtain support.

Unpaid carers can also have their concerns not taken seriously.

The poem also reflects on what it feels like when decisions are made without carers and their cultural or religious beliefs are overlooked.

Through this poem, I want to raise awareness of why the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF) matters to carers and families.

I feel mental health services must listen to carers, communicate clearly and recognise them as equal partners rather than leaving them feeling judged, invisible or powerless.

National Ethnic mental health Carer Forum : July Update 2026

By Matthew McKenzie – Chair, National Ethnic Mental Health Carers Forum

The July meeting welcomed unpaid carers, NHS organisations, universities, researchers and community groups from across England to discuss how mental health services can become more inclusive for carers from ethnic communities.

Matthew McKenzie opened the meeting by reflecting on over thirteen years of facilitating the forum and explained how its purpose has grown alongside national initiatives such as the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF) and the Triangle of Care. The forum continues to provide a national platform where carers can influence NHS services, hear about new research and share experiences with professionals and decision-makers.

Matthew introduced the day’s programme, which included research presentations, NHS England engagement, updates from mental health trusts and national organisations, and opportunities for carers to influence future policy

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Latest poem from my book – Unpaid, Unseen and Yet Unbroken

By Matthew McKenzie, facilitator of National ethnic mental health carers forum

Welcome to my first blog for 2026.

I am working on a new poetry project linked to my forum and poetry groups. This poem turned into song is written from the perspective of an unpaid ethnic mental health carer, and explores identity, pride, self-worth, and refusing shame in systems that don’t always listen or recognise lived experience.

The poem is taken from my forthcoming poetry book in development,
Unpaid, Unseen and Yet Unbroken (due 2026), which centres the voices of ethnic mental health carers and aligns closely with the aims of PCREF (Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework), particularly around listening, inclusion, and lived experience shaping systems.

I’m using poetry and creative formats as another way to:

  • amplify carer voices
  • explore race and care with honesty
  • support conversations about equity, culture, and confidence in mental health services

If this resonates with your work, community, or organisation, please feel free to share.
Listening is an act of care.