The annual report found that people who are experiencing mental health issues receive better quality services than five years ago
Involuntary admissions to mental health services rose last year, according to the Mental Health Commission.
The body’s annual report shows there were 2,057 involuntary admissions to mental health services in 2011, compared to 1,952 for the preceding year and 2,024 in 2009.
Twenty involuntary admissions involved children, up from 13 admissions a year earlier
The commission was notified of 421 admissions of children to mental health centres in 2011, a 2.1 per cent decrease on the number of admissions reported in 2010.
Some 132 admissions of children were to adult units compared to 55 in the previous year.
The commission welcomed the investment in two new child and adolescent in-patient facilities in Cork and Galway, which brings the number of child and adolescent units nationally to six with a combined capacity of 70 beds. In 2008, just 28 beds were available in child and adolescent units nationwide.
“The provision of specialised units for children has directly resulted in a decline in the number of admissions of children to adult units in 2011,” said the commission’s chairman Dr Edmund O’Dea.
“In 2007, 61.6 per cent of child admissions were made to adult units, while in 2011 just 31.4 per cent of child admissions were to adult units,” he added.
However, the commission said it remains concerned about the number of children being admitted to adult units and hoped to see a reduction in admissions this year.
A total of 1,771 of mental health tribunal hearings were held in 2011, the report showed. There have been 9,717 review hearings held since they were first introduced in 2007.
The annual report, which also included the Report of the Inspector of Mental Health Services, found that people who are experiencing mental health issues receive better quality services than five years ago.
The commission carried out a national survey of patients’ experiences of inpatient mental health services and found 84.4 per cent of respondents stated that they were satisfied overall with the service received.
“Patients receiving inpatient treatment today are more actively involved in their care and treatment plans. The physical environments in which they are treated are, in most cases, improved. And those who are involuntarily detained, or deprived of their liberty, now have the right to have their detention order reviewed by a three person Mental Health Tribunal, ” said Dr O’Dea.
Last year, the Mental Health Commission imposed conditions to the registration of seven approved centres including St Brendan’s and St Ita’s in Dublin, St Finan’s in Kerry, St Loman’s in Westmeath, S. Senan’s in Wexford and St Luke’s and St Michael’s in Tipperary.
Dr O’Dea welcome the ring-fencing of €35 million for the development of community services but said the reduction in staff numbers that has occurred in the mental health sector meant that the funding “may do little more than allow the services stand still”.
The commission warned last year that mental health services are experiencing major staff shortages due to the moratorium on public sector recruitment. It said this was undermining efforts to reform how people with mental health illnesses are treated.
Dr O’Dea said that in general the mental health sector was starting to see the benefits of a cultural shift toward an approach that promotes the recovery of patients, rather than simply the management of patients, as being at the heart of mental health services.
“The concept of recovery is central to modern thinking and practice in the area of mental health and while we are seeing a shift in pockets around the country this has yet to permeate throughout the country,” he said.
“There is still a long way to go but understanding of the fundamental concept that mental health services should be geared towards the recovery of the patient has grown substantially. This is a step towards refocusing patient care, offering realistic hope to those with serious mental illness.”
The campaign group Mental Health Reform welcomed the report but also expressed concerns about staffing levels in the sector.
It also said that the €35 million funding commitment was in jeopardy unless a director for mental health was appointed as early as possible.
How many people have paid the €100 household levy charge now?
The official deadline has come and gone and it closed at midnight on Saturday night but a number of people have paid the controversial €100 household charge since then, either by letter or by late online registration.
Latest figures show that a total number of 637,995 properties have registered and paid the €100 charge as of this afternoon.
An estimated 153,934 postal applications are still waiting to be processed, as well as just over 80,000 registrations from local authority offices around the country.
The Local Government Management Agency, which has handled the charge, now estimates that a total of 886,537 properties have been registered to pay the charge.
The figure includes almost 14,000 properties which have registered for a waiver, including some properties on ghost estates and people who are entitled to mortgage interest supplement.
Some of the figures include registrations made after 31 March, which means they will have to have paid €111 as a penalty.
Donkey crash Garda car ‘cost more to repair than the vehicle’s was worth’ (AGSI) stated
Delegates at the conference in Wexford were told the Gardai’s transport fleet was deteriorating, The Gardai spent 4,000 euro on repairing a patrol car which crashed into a donkey, even though the vehicle was not worth that much.
The details emerged at the annual conference of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI).
The association has called for a cost-benefit analysis to be carried out on the garda transport fleet.
Delegates were told that almost half of the gardai’s 24.5m euro transport budget is spent on repairs.
The AGSI said money was being wasted on a deteriorating fleet of cars, vans and bikes, and officers could not be expected to provide a service with poor quality vehicles.
Roscommon TD luke Flanagan questions the Government's definition of raised bogs
‘After turf cutters proposals were rejected’
The Government has rejected a proposal which would have allowed turf cutting to continue on Ireland’s raised bogs. Instead, cutting on the 53 bogs is coming to an end because of an EU Habitats Directive.
The Turf Cutters and Contractors Association (TCCA) had put forward a plan which would have allowed cutting to continue.
However in a statement issued yesterday the Government and the EU Commission jointly rejected the TCCA proposals.
Roscommon TD Luke Ming Flanagan today told KFM that serious questions have to be asked about how the Government and the EU are defining raised bogs.
He said some of the bog complexes designated as raised bogs by the Government were in fact not so.
“It is the equivalent of a judge in Crufts giving ‘Best Labrador’ to a poodle,” Deputy Flanagan charged.
“Those are the sort of experts we are dealing with.”
The Lottery will be sold off to the highest bidder to raise money for the new children’s hospital
THE National Lottery may be sold off to international bidders to part-pay for new National Children’s Hospital.
Details of the tendering process for the next licence were announced by Minister Brendan Howlin today.
The current licence is due to run out in June of 2013 and its replacement will be for a 20-year period and will involve an upfront payment to the State of between €400m and €600m.
For the first time lottery operators from abroad would be eligible to tender for the licence.
It is expected that a large portion of any upfront payment will be used to help fund the new National Children’s Hospital.
According to the Minister, there will be a competitive process and the fixed percentage of 30.5pc of annual turnover for good causes will be retained under the new licence.
It is hoped that a longer licence term will attract international bidders.
The present licence was issued by the Minister for Finance in December 2001 to An Post National Lottery Company.
Last November, the Government extended the term of the current licence until the end of June 2013 in order to allow time to put in place a competitive process for a new licence.
Mr Howlin also revealed that legislative change would be required to deal with future regulation and to address issues around online sales.
“The online applications and processes of the National Lottery need to be modernised
‘‘Globally lotteries are doing more business online and in the context of a 20-year licence we need to provide for this but in a manner that has sufficient safeguards.”
National Lottery chairman Donal Connell told an Oireachtas committee last year that An Post was “determined to win’’ the new licence.
Those likely to bid include British group Camelot and Australian gaming company, Tatts Group.
Camelot. which currently runs that Northern Ireland lottery, has already held several meetings with Department officials.
This afternoon the company said it “welcomed” the move by the Government and added it will have to “digest” the plans.
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