Ivor Callely
Question:116 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Health the number of people with a mental handicap who are misplaced in psychiatric hospitals for long term care in each health board area; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Vol. 426 No. 2
116 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Health the number of people with a mental handicap who are misplaced in psychiatric hospitals for long term care in each health board area; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Many persons with a mental handicap were admitted in the past to psychiatric hospitals who would not be admitted to such hospitals today. It is the policy of my Department that persons with mental handicap should not be admitted to psychiatric hospitals unless they have an underlying psychiatric disorder which cannot be treated in any other way. The report of the Review Group on Mental Handicap Services, Needs and Abilities endorses this policy. It recommends that an assessment be carried out of the circumstances and needs of each person with mental handicap in the psychiatric hospitals. If the assessment indicates that the person with mental handicap no longer needs care in psychiatric setting, the report recommends that he or she should transfer to a mental handicap service.
There were 942 people with mental handicap accommodated in public psychiatric hospitals on 31 December 1992. A further 447 people were accommodated in re-designed units associated with these hospitals but which are now part of the mental handicap service.