Inquiry finds British National Health Service 'racist to the core'

A probe into the death of a schizophrenic man at a mental health clinic near Norwich has slammed the NHS as "racist to the core". Racism and outdated techniques have been blamed for the death of David 'Rocky' Bennett. Mr Bennett, 38, died while being held face-down in the Norvic Clinic, in Thorpe St Andrew, in October 1998, after fighting with a fellow patient and hitting a nurse. On the final day of an independent inquiry sanctioned by the Government, the National Health Service was accused of institutional racism.

Sadiq Khan, the lawyer of Dr Joanna Bennett, Mr Bennett's sister, who lectures on the care of psychiatric patients, said: "We believe there is a hierarchy among NHS patients, with young black men at the bottom. There is a stark difference in the treatment of a young black man and a middle-aged white man, with the same symptoms or condition. The way black people are treated is staggering — we are in no doubt there is institutional racism in the National Health Service."

Now there is proof