Dr. Stephen Browne:

Acute psychiatric bed provision was above the European average until approximately 2008. Then there was a sharp decline and we are now well below the European average. Most European countries spend between 10% and 12% of their health budget on mental health. We have spent around 6% in the past number of years. A Vision for Change, when costed in 2006, suggested that to staff to the norms recommended would require the allocation of 8.4% of the health budget to mental health. A Vision for Change set a standard for acute bed provision of 16.7 per 100,000 population. Most psychiatrists would say that is an unfortunate underestimate. The current national average is 22 inpatient beds per 100,000 of the population. In CHO5, the average is 18.3. If one were to take 18.3 from 22 and multiply it by 5.1, the population of CHO5 being 511,000, we find CHO5, compared to the national average, has an underprovision of 18 beds.