Louise O'Reilly
Question:538. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health the reason A Vision for Change was never fully realised before it was reviewed and refreshed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12490/20]
View answerTuesday, 23 June 2020
Questions (538)
Written answers
The publication of A Vision for Change (2006) represented an important milestone in the development of mental health policy in Ireland. Many significant changes and improvements have taken place over the lifetime of the policy since 2006. These changes have been implemented as a result of a substantial increase in funding. Since 2012, the HSE Mental Health Services funding base has been increased by €315m, or around 44%. Much has changed, however, over this period. For example, there has been a substantial increase in demand for CAMHS specialist services; between 2012 and 2018, there was an increase of 24% in the number of referrals accepted by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). To assist in meeting the increased service demands, CAMHS teams increased from 49 to 70 between 2008 and 2019, while CAMHS beds increased from 16 to 74 over the same period. In addition, overall, mental health staffing has increased, with an additional 1,700 new development posts since 2012.
A Vision for Change came to the end of its ten-year term in 2016 and preparations for a review and update of the policy commenced with the commissioning in February 2017 of an Expert Evidence Review by the Work Research Centre to inform the parameters of the planned refresh of mental health policy in Ireland. The approach encompassed a stock-take of recent success in mental health and a review of international developments, innovation, evidence and good practice. The review had a broad brief covering the various dimensions of the mental health terrain that might have relevance for informing the refresh of mental health policy in Ireland.
The key priorities that emerged from the review were:
- The need to prioritise mental health in Ireland as a major societal issue
- The importance of primary prevention and positive mental health
- A requirement to focus on social inclusion and recovery
- Expansion of mental health services to address the spectrum of conditions and needs
- Development of governance and financing to include research, evaluation and quality assurance.
This report assisted in identifying priority areas for the Oversight Group established to update the policy, to consider as it drafted its report for the Department of Health.
Sharing the Vision- A Mental Health Policy for Everyone is therefore grounded in the realities of the challenges and issues that presently exist. The revised policy acknowledges, however, that while considerable change, ongoing reform and re-investment are needed, much of the A Vision for Change policy remains relevant today. Some recommendations remain valid (with minor refinements); others have led to advances which require updates; and others are no longer valid or have already been delivered. Finally, there are many recommendations in this policy that are entirely new, reflecting issues that have arisen during the course of the refresh work.