Our Trust (GHC) has been selected to join a national pilot that will explore how the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF) can be integrated into the Triangle of Care, and how mental health services can better understand and respond to the experiences and needs of racially marginalised carers.
The pilot launches during Carers Week, a national awareness week focused on unpaid carers taking place 8th – 14th June 2026.
The theme for this year’s Carers Week is ‘building carer-friendly communities’, and highlights what services, organisations, and employers can do to better recognise and support carers in their area.
Each mental health provider taking part in the pilot is a member of Carers Trust’s Triangle of Care programme. Triangle of Care is a nationally recognised scheme designed to promote safety, recovery and wellbeing by ensuring unpaid carers are included, informed and supported throughout a person’s care journey.
Run by Carers Trust, the national pilot will support mental health providers over the next 12 months to test and refine draft guidance aimed at improving how unpaid carers from racially marginalised communities are identified, involved and supported. Participating organisations will put the Triangle of Care and PCREF guidance into practice, share learning on what works, and help shape final recommendations to support wider adoption across mental health services.
Participation in the pilot reflects GHC’s commitment to working in partnership with unpaid carers to improve experiences and outcomes, and help build truly carer-friendly communities. This collaborative approach is essential to ensuring that services are developed in ways that are practical, inclusive and sustainable.
Ruth Eustace, Clinical Development Practitioner and Cathy Newman (Triangle of Care Lead at GHC), said:
“We are delighted to have been selected to take part in this important pilot, launching in Carers Week. Carers are vital partners in care, and this opportunity will help us strengthen how we recognise, involve and support carers from our diverse local communities. We are particularly pleased to be working alongside carers and community partners to help shape approaches that are more inclusive and equitable.”
Anastasia Blaize chaired the PCREF and Triangle of Care Task and Finish Group, which co-produced the draft guidance alongside carers, and is Experience of Care Manager at Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. Reflecting on the pilot, Anastasia said:
“PCREF is the first anti-racist framework of its kind, and encourages health professionals to have more open and direct conversations with patients and carers from Black, Asian and typically overlooked communities. We know that carers, friends and families from these communities can have difficulty trusting mental health services for a variety of reasons: by aligning the Triangle of Care with PCREF, we’re aiming to help health professionals understand the needs of families and carers, and deliver the support and involvement these communities need.”
Mary Patel, Triangle of Care Programme Lead at Carers Trust, said:
“Supporting someone experiencing mental illness can be very challenging, and carers from racially marginalised communities often face additional barriers. We are grateful to GHC for joining this important pilot and helping us test how well the draft guidance reflects carers’ needs and experiences. We are also grateful to the carers and professionals across inpatient and community services who will share their insight, helping us to understand what works in practice and where further change is needed.”
About Carers Trust
Carers Trust is building a fair world for carers. We are the national charity reaching more than one million carers of all ages and backgrounds. We provide practical, emotional and financial support through our local services across the UK. We’re there, where and when carers need us.
About Carers Week
Carers Week is an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring, highlight the challenges unpaid carers face and recognise the contribution they make to families and communities throughout the UK. It also helps people who don’t think of themselves as having caring responsibilities to identify as carers and access much-needed support.
About Triangle of Care
Triangle of Care is a quality improvement scheme for health and social care providers that promotes safety, recovery and wellbeing by including and supporting unpaid carers. Originally developed by carers, the scheme is run by Carers Trust and recognises organisations that have committed to continuous improvement according to six key ‘carers included’ standards.
Over 90 mental health providers, including NHS Trusts, charities and private hospitals serving NHS patients, are Triangle of Care members. The Triangle of Care is recognised by Care Quality Commission inspectors and supports the NICE recommendations for ‘Supporting Adult Carers’. To find out more, visit the Triangle of Care website.
About PCREF
NHS England launched its first anti-racism framework for mental health services in England, in May 2023. The Patient and Carer Race Equality framework (PCREF) is mandatory for all NHS mental health trusts and providers. It sets out clear actions they must take to reduce racial inequalities in their services – and forms part of Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections.
The framework focuses on three areas:
- Leadership and governance – trust boards will lead on creating and monitoring plans to reduce health inequalities.
- Data – trusts must publish new data on progress in reducing health inequalities, and include ethnicity information in all existing core data sets.
- Feedback – trusts must put clear, visible ways in place for patients and carers to give feedback, and show how that feedback leads to action.
Patients and communities are at the heart of designing and improving the services they use. The PCREF builds on progress already made locally and marks a significant step forward for the sector.
