Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 20 November 2019
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health
Workforce Planning in the Mental Healthcare Sector: Discussion
Ms Rosemary Smyth:
From an inpatient perspective, where we regulate, we can use our enforcement powers, which we have done in the ten years since the Act commenced. We no longer have large institutional buildings. They have all closed down and we have modern mental health services now. That is an improvement for those who have to use the acute inpatient services. There is also reform of the legislation so that anyone who has been involuntarily detained has an automatic right to review, which is very positive. I would reiterate the point on the lack of parity in service provision in the community, CAMHS and rehabilitation. Outside inpatient services, service provision is patchy, in that it is good in some areas but needs to be improved elsewhere.