Vol. 421 No. 5
10 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Health if, in view of the disturbing findings of the report of the Inspector of Mental Hospitals he will formulate a list of key performance indicators for management in the psychiatric service, against which they could regularly report progress in enhancing patient service.
The Inspector of Mental Hospitals, in accordance with the powers vested in him under the provisions of the Mental Treatment Act, 1945, inspects each psychiatric hospital at least once a year. The inspectorate, in carrying out its functions, uses a list of key performance indicators as a yardstick to judge the quality of care provided for patients. A report is prepared following each inspection which is transmitted to health board management, or in the case of the private hospitals, to the appropriate manager. The report measures the service against the indicators used and makes recommendations for improvements where necessary. The inspector's recommendations are transmitted to the appropriate health board in whose functional area the psychiatric hospital is located shortly after inspection. The health boards must then report to me on action which they plan to take to implement the recommendations made by the inspector.
As the Deputy will be aware, the Green Paper on Mental Health which I launched earlier this month proposes a continuation of this system of inspection of mental hospitals.
Would the Minister not agree that this report has taken the lid off the very disturbing situation in some of our psychiatric hospitals where patients were left without occupation, some patients were needlessly locked up — in one case people were restrained for a period of nine years — and there was mice infestation in some wards? Would he agree that the 20 per cent cut in the real allocation of funds to psychiatric services by his Government during the period 1986-92 was in large part responsible for such conditions? Would he also agree that the closure of long-stay beds which were not replaced with alternative accommodation in the community has been a worrying trend and has under-pinned the deterioration in psychiatric services?
I think we would all agree that mental health services have not been given the priority they deserve. The publication of this report has highlighted the problems experienced by mental patients. Some of these patients who have been treated very poorly and shabbily were litterly banished from society. Successive Governments share the blame for this. I very much agree with what the Deputy has said. It was very important to highlight these problems. If the report does nothing else it shames us as individuals into ensuring that these patients get the care and attention they deserve. Significant improvements have been made in the service since the 1988-89 report was published. In addition, enormous changes have taken place in the community services. I believe we should continue along that line, as proposed in the document Planning for the Future. If we can do this many patients will be rehabilitated. It is my great desire to see these old Victorian mental hospitals closed down. This can and will be done once proper facilities have been installed in the community for these patients.
We must now proceed——
May I ask a brief question?
The House must appreciate that the time for Priority Questions is long since exhausted. We must move on to other question now.
