Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Health to detail any steps his Department is taking to ensure that inpatient mental health services have sufficient staffing levels, and the appropriate skill mix, to provide safe and therapeutic care.
Minister of Health: The Department of Health recognises the workforce challenges facing inpatient mental health services, including increasing demand, complexity of need, and recruitment and retention pressures. These issues were acknowledged in the Mental Health Strategy 2021–2031.
To address this, the Department committed to a comprehensive Mental Health Workforce Review under Action 32 of the Strategy. The externally led review, published in July 2023, examined workforce capacity, skill mix, recruitment, retention and future workforce needs.
The Review made 18 recommendations to support a workforce that is fit for the future, including actions to strengthen staffing levels and skill mix across mental health services. A coproduced implementation plan has been developed, with priority actions focused on workforce planning, recruitment, training places, and phased delivery within available resources.
In response to Recommendations 1 and 2 of the Workforce Review, the Department is progressing a Mental Health Workforce Costings and Prioritisation Review, with a final report due in the coming weeks. This work is intended to identify the resource implications of the recommendations. The findings will inform future decisions on workforce and service prioritisation, including in relation to inpatient mental health services, subject to the availability of funding through future budgets.
These actions are intended to support safe and therapeutic care across mental health services, including inpatient settings.
ENDS
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