James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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140. To ask the Minister for Health when a roadmap for out-of-hours access to mental health services will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2356/18]

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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The 2017 Mental Health Division Operational Plan committed the Mental Health Division of the HSE to “Improving 7 day responses in Mental Health Services through increased capacity in Community Services”. The Division assigned a Service Improvement Lead to progress the initiative. The HSE has advised us that they initially mapped the entire 114 Adult Mental Teams to determine the existing level of 7/7 service provision. The results of this exercise showed that there is currently approximately 60% coverage across the 9 Community Healthcare Organisations of 7/7 cover comprising of a combination of Assertive Outreach, Home Based Treatment Teams and Nurse provided cover.

The HSE then estimated the level of resources required to provide a 7/7 service across the service. As a result of this exercise €4.5 million was granted for the recruitment of staff, facilities and non-staffing costs associated with the enhanced Service which will initially be for known service users.

A consultation process with all 9 CHOs took place to agree staffing numbers and professions and the HSE is now in the process of recruiting the additional staff indicated. The HSE are also developing a more detailed model of care and set of key performance indicators to assess the value and impact of a 7/7 Service which they expect will inform the development of 24/7 Mental Health Services including Crisis Intervention.

The recruitment process for the additional staff has commenced and given the recruitment timelines the HSE expects that the enhanced 7/7 Services will commence on a phased basis from April/May this year.