The Mental Health Commission, a statutory body established in 2001 to promote high standards and good practices in the delivery of mental health services, launched its 2010 Annual Report on 2 June 2011.
The Commission said it was concerned at the lack of implementation of the recommendations from the Expert Group on Mental Health Policy in its 2006 report "A Vision for Change". The Group is now half way through its ten-year time frame. Among the issues of concern to the Commission are the continued housing of teenagers in adult facilities and the lack of change in the number of involuntary admission applications to mental health centres. The Commission also emphasised the need for more community-based mental health services.
The report was critical of the recruitment ban in the Health Service Executive (HSE), given both the health services staff retirement rates and the corresponding impact on the transfer of institutional to community based care.
The Commission noted that there have been improvements to mental health facilities for child and adolescent patients. The Commission welcomed the increased number of facilities in compliance with regulations and codes of practice. The Commission also noted the commitment of all stakeholders (including government bodies, organisations, service users and staff) to improving the system for service users.
The report stressed the need for a Mental Health Services Directorate to be established within the HSE.
Chief Executive Patricia Gilheaney highlighted the importance of embedding a concept of recovery into the State's mental health services, saying "while a greater number of policy-makers and staff have embraced this concept there are still too many instances in which the treatment system sees treatment as about managing patients rather than facilitating their recovery".
Kathleen Lynch, the Minister of State for Disability, Equality and Mental Health, welcomed the report. She noted that while some encouraging developments have taken place in the last year, the rate of progress is still slow. She commented with concern about the continuing practice of mental health service beds being used for those who are not mentally ill. The Minister re-iterated the Government's commitment of "reforming (their) model of healthcare delivery so that more and better quality care is delivered in the community".
Click here to read a blog article by Human Rights in Ireland on the release of the Annual Report.