Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 July 2019
632. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Health the total number of involuntary admissions in 2018; the percentage of the involuntary admissions following a family member’s referral; the percentage of the involuntary admissions following a member of An Garda Síochána’s referral; the percentage of the involuntary admissions following a doctor’s referral; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31043/19]
View answerThe information the Deputy is seeking is set out in the Mental Health Commission’s Annual Report for 2018 which was published last month and is available on the Commission’s website.
In terms of admission orders in 2018, the Commission report that there were 2,435 such admissions, 1,825 of which were from the community with 610 being regrades of voluntary patients already in approved centres.
The breakdown of applicant status for the 1,825 admission orders from the community as reported by the Commission is as follows:
Spouse, civil partner, relative 38%
Authorised Officer 14%
Garda 22%
Other person 22%
The Commission commented that the number of applications by family members are down 6% on 2017 and they have welcomed this decrease. The ‘Other person’ category above is quite broad and would include, for example, a doctor in an Emergency Department.
