National mental health programme launched
by Mehak Dugal
 

Fórsa has called on health employers to engage with staff representatives to ensure the timely implementation of a new ten-year roadmap for Ireland’s mental health services, which was launched by health minister Simon Harris last week.

 

Sharing the vision: A mental health policy for everyone belatedly follows the last national mental health policy, which ended its ten-year term in 2016.

Developed after extensive consultation with over 1,000 service users, family members, friends, carers and other stakeholders, the programme highlights four priority areas:

  • Promotion, prevention and early intervention
  • Service access, coordination and continuity of care
  • Social inclusion, and
  • Accountability and continuous improvement.

Fórsa welcomed the significant consultation with service users and their advocates, but criticised a lack of engagement with staff who will deliver the programme, and whose experience and professional insights can inform the programme and its implementation.

 

Union official Catherine Keogh said Fórsa had raised the need for staff engagement at a meeting with the HSE earlier this week. “The HSE agreed to this and we expect to meet on this matter as health services begin to return to normal over the coming weeks,” she said.

 

The programme allocates responsibilities to lead agencies and sets time-bound implementation targets for each recommended action. It also establishes a national implementation committee to oversee its implementation.

 

The document’s ‘implementation roadmap’ earmarks the recommendations into short (up to six months), medium (six-18 months) and long term implementation, and puts an emphasis on the measurement of outcomes.

 

Read the policy document HERE.

 

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