Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Health what plans he has for a review of mental health services across all Health and Social Care Trusts.
Minister of Health: In June 2021 I launched the Mental Health Strategy 2021 – 2031 which set out the vision and future direction for mental health services in Northern Ireland over the next decade.
Action 31 of the Mental Health Strategy commits to the development of a Regional Mental Health Service, operating across the five Trusts. It will provide regional professional leadership that will be responsible for consistency and improvement in service delivery and development.
Drawing on the actions in the Mental Health Strategy, three core attributes of a high quality Regional Mental Health Service (RMHS) were identified:
A regionally consistent service in terms of models, service delivery and service structures;
The establishment of care networks, building capacity and ensuring regionally agreed evidence-based approaches with appropriate agreed care pathways; and
Locally based service delivery working across primary and secondary mental health care with the full integration of the community and voluntary sector.
I announced the launch of the RMHS in October 2022. Since then, considerable work has been progressed, in discussion with key stakeholders, to develop and agree a 5-year implementation plan for the Regional Service and to recruit key posts. The Head of the RMHS Collaborative Board has recently been recruited and is expected to take up post on 1 March 2024. Once established, the Collaborative Board will have responsibility for the oversight of mental health services development and delivery, including what further reviews may be required across Trusts.
ENDS
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