Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 160: To ask the Minister for Health and Children her views in relation to a submission (details supplied); the action she is taking to address such concerns; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30040/07]

Jimmy Devins (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Report of the Expert Group on Mental Health Policy, A Vision for Change, acknowledges gaps in the current provision for forensic mental health services and recognises that such services should be available in all areas where law enforcement agents are likely to encounter individuals with severe mental health problems. The Report makes several recommendations for the further improvement of these services including the provision of four additional multi-disciplinary community based forensic mental health teams. The Government has accepted the Report as the basis for the future development of our mental health services. Implementation of the individual recommendations of A Vision for Change is a matter primarily for the HSE. In July 2006, the HSE established an implementation group to ensure that mental health services develop in a synchronised and consistent manner across the country. The HSE intends to publish an implementation plan shortly which is to include a timed and prioritised set of short, medium and longer term goals. The Forensic Mental Health Service functions mainly as an in-reach service to prisons, providing clinics and consultations on request, and where necessary, advising on the transfer of persons to the Central Mental Hospital. Staffing in the Forensic Mental Health Service has been increased to seven consultant psychiatrists and six fully staffed, multi-disciplinary teams. This has enabled the HSE to further strengthen forensic mental health services in 2007, with the assignment of one consultant psychiatrist and appropriate staff, on a full-time basis, to the remand prisons.