Remembering Aggrey Burke: A Voice That Challenged British Psychiatry

It is with deep sadness that we share the news of the passing of Dr Aggrey Burke. He was not only a colleague and friend, but also a mentor whose work fundamentally challenged psychiatry and the NHS to confront the overrepresentation of Black people within the mental health system.

As the NHS’s first Black consultant psychiatrist, Burke dedicated his career to exposing how structural racism shaped diagnosis, detention, and treatment. He consistently questioned practices that framed Black distress as danger and culture as pathology, long before these conversations entered mainstream policy debates. His work forced uncomfortable but necessary scrutiny of institutions that too often failed the communities they served.

While the recent Royal Assent of the latest Mental Health Act signals some progress, it does not address the root causes that Burke spent decades highlighting: structural racism and the enduring legacy of enslavement within British institutions. Disproportionate detention rates, misdiagnosis, and mistrust of mental health services remain pressing concerns for Black communities.

Burke understood that reform without accountability is insufficient. The fight for equitable, culturally informed mental health services continues, and it is the responsibility of professionals, policymakers, and communities alike to carry forward the work he began.

For those seeking deeper insight into his life and legacy, we encourage you to read about the psychiatrist who courageously spoke out against racism in British medicine—and who never stopped insisting that justice must be at the centre of care.