asked the Minister for Health the reason the provisions of the Health (Mental Services) Act, 1981, have not yet been brought into force; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
10.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Health (Mental Services) Act.
9.
asked the Minister for Health when he intends to make regulations for the implementation of the Health (Mental Services) Act, 1981.
11.
asked the Minister for Health if he intends to implement the mental treatment Act, 1981; if not, if he has any plans to bring forward further legislation; and when he intends to do so.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 9, 10 and 11 together. I have always considered the provisions of the Health (Mental Services) Act, 1981 to be not only inoperable in practice in certain respects but not fulfilling the objective of producing a legislative base upon which the mental health services could be developed. When I became Minister I had a detailed review of the Act undertaken and I will, in the course of the next few months, be drafting new legislation which will take into account any changes required by the recommendations in the planning framework report. This report is now being studied by the interested bodies and I hope to have their views without undue delay.
Will the Minister tell the House when it is likely that the legislation will be brought before the House? We have been promised a lot of legislation from his Department but the months and years slip by. Is the Minister in a position to give a precise date for the introduction of the legislation?
The Bill is being drafted. It will be a comprehensive piece of legislation dealing with the provision of psychiatric services at health board level with the registration of institutions, admission and discharge procedures and safeguards for patients in such hospitals.
It will deal also with the role of review boards. It is essential that we have new legislation in that area. Soon after the 1981 regulations were drafted it was apparent that they were inoperable. The provision in regard to doctors and the system relating to review tribunals were regarded generally as inadequate and inoperable.
Will the Minister give the House an assurance that the legislation will contain a provision for an independent review of the protection of persons who are confined in psychiatric hospitals? Is the Minister aware that there is concern that this legislation has not been brought forward and that there is not a sufficient independent outside review procedure for the standards of care applied to patients in psychiatric hospitals?
Undoubtedly there is a need for a new review board procedure. The procedure dealt with in the 1981 Act was regarded as cumbersome and inoperable. With respect to the Deputy's profession, it would enmesh psychiatric patients in a legal framework from which they would have some difficulty escaping.
That would be the job of the profession. The legislation must be effective.
There is also the question of psychiatric and medical care. It was accepted by my predecessors also that the 1981 regulations were badly framed. At present I am drafting the new framework for admissions and discharges and, in particular, for the review of patients in our psychiatric hospitals. I should add that a large number of patients in our psychiatric hospitals are there because, even if there was a review, there would not be anywhere to put them.
The information the Minister has given is very useful but is he in a position to tell us when the legislation will be brought forward?
It will be brought forward this year. I am working on it at present and I hope to bring it before the Government in the near future.