This article is from page 4 of the 2008-06-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
MENTAL health services in Clare are significantly under-funded, ac- cording to the annual report of the Mental Health Commission (MHC) released last week.
The report also pointed to a sig- nificant reduction in the amount of patients admitted involuntarily to in- patient mental health units.
“The Clare Mental Health Service had been proactive in developing a community-based model of care over the five years since the closure of Our Lady’s Hospital,” said a spokes-
person from the Mental Health Com- mission.
“It had sourced external support to further develop the workings of teams and had a written plan based on the national planning document, ‘A Vision for Change’.
“However, Clare faces consider- able challenges in reconfiguring ex- isting nursing resources, introducing health care assistants and accessing funding to achieve appropriate staff- ing levels on all teams.”
The figures, which covered all of 2007, revealed a 25 per cent reduction in the number of involuntary patients
in health care centres since 2005. Na- tionally, just over 2,000 people were involuntarily admitted in 2007.
“2007 was a milestone year for men- tal health services in Ireland. It was the first full year of the implementa- tion of the Mental Health Act 2001 and this has had a significant effect on the delivery of mental health services in Ireland,” said Brid Clarke, Chief Executive Officer of the MHC.
“While we acknowledge _ that changes have taken place in a lot of approved centres, there are a still a number of centres which are not op- erating to best practice. It is the goal
of the commission to continue to pro- mote high standards during 2008 and onwards.”
Despite improvements made in mental health services in 2007, the MHC expressed its concern about the lack of progress in the implemen- tation of the Government’s policy on mental health.
“The implementation of “A Vision for Change’ is necessary so that a modern, comprehensive person-cen- tred model of mental health service provision is available for all of those who need to avail of it,” said Dr Ed- mond O’ Dea, Chairman of the MHC.