Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 April 2021
1694. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health the progress made since 27 June 2020 to implementing Sharing the Vision – A Mental Health Policy for Everyone; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18687/21]
View answerSharing the Vision aims to enhance the provision of mental health services and supports across a broad continuum, from mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention to acute and specialist mental health service delivery, during the period 2020-2030.
A whole-of-government National Implementation Monitoring Committee (NIMC) was established in December 2020 to oversee the implementation of the recommendations in the Policy and to monitor progress. The NIMC is made up of the NIMC Steering Committee, which will be supported by an NIMC Reference Group of Service Users and Families and NIMC Specialist Groups.
The NIMC Steering Committee, independently chaired by Mr John Saunders, is driving the implementation of Sharing the Vision and will ensure appropriate monitoring and oversight processes are put in place. To date, the NIMC Steering Committee has held four monthly business meetings. The next business meeting is scheduled for 14 May 2021. The approved minutes of Steering Committee meetings are available on the Department of Health website. In March, the Steering Committee met over two days, on 11 and 12 March 2021, examine, in some detail, its role and function.
In these early stages, the Steering Committee is focusing on developing and establishing the structures and processes crucial to a full and successful implementation of the new Policy.
The Steering Committee is seeking to progress the formation of specialist groups for specific areas of work. As part of this, the Steering Committee has recently finalised a Process Document, which will formalise the mechanisms by which specialist groups can be established. The Steering Committee will develop priorities to inform the areas in which specialist groups will be formed and the timeframe of formation. It is anticipated that the finalised Process Document and NIMC priorities will enable the NIMC to proceed with the formation of specialist groups in a structured and strategic manner.
Additionally, the Steering Committee is seeking to progress the establishment of the Reference Group of Service Users and Families. To this end, a subgroup of NIMC Steering Committee members has been established to develop an approach.
The HSE has primary responsibility for the implementation of the majority of the Sharing the Vision recommendations, and is establishing the HSE Implementation Group, which will report to the NIMC Steering Committee. One of the first tasks of the Steering Committee, with the HSE Implementation Group, will be to ascertain ongoing Sharing the Vision aligned tasks and projects.
An implementation monitoring approach to the non-HSE Sharing the Vision recommendations is currently being progressed by the NIMC Secretariat on behalf of the ,Steering Committee, through interdepartmental and intradepartmental engagement. There is considerable work ongoing across Government that aligns to the recommendations of Sharing the Vision.
I am satisfied that the Committee is progressing well in this initial stage of its work, by building on the following initiatives already underway:
- Many significant recent developments in online mental health service provision and positive mental health promotion have been expedited in response to the ongoing pandemic. These initiatives exemplify the holistic, whole-of-population approach to mental health service development that Sharing the Vision will be promoting and seeking to advance, in parallel with the development of specialist supports.
- Sharing the Vision recommends the continued phased implementation and evaluation of existing national clinical programmes in mental health, including Dual Diagnosis, Early Intervention in Psychosis, and Eating Disorders. The clinical programmes, which are in various stages of design and implementation, are at the heart of service improvement. They provide clear pathways to ensure strategic, standardised and evidence-based delivery of services and better outcomes for service users and their families.
- Sharing the Vision additionally recommends that, in keeping with the evolving understanding of human rights to empower people and improve quality of care in mental healthcare facilities, legislation must be updated and additional supports put in place. This is currently being addressed in the review of the Mental Health Act, 2001, which is undergoing a major overhaul, with draft heads of a new bill expected to be published in the very near future.
Finally, I am pleased to have secured an additional €50 million for mental health services in 2021, bringing the annual budget to in excess of €1 billion. €23 million of this additional funding is dedicated to commencing implementation of many of the short-term recommendations of Sharing the Vision, including enhanced resources for community mental health teams, CAMHS hubs/teams, adult crisis resolution services, increased supports in employment, peer support workers, bereavement co-ordination, and dialectical behaviour therapy,
Work is progressing in these areas, including the recruitment of the 153 new mental health staff this year.
