Since taking office, this Government has prioritised the reform of our mental health services in line with A Vision for Change and is committed in particular to the delivery of more and better quality care in the community.
A special allocation of €35m for mental health was announced in Budget 2012 in line with the Programme for Government commitments. Funding from this special allocation will be used primarily to further strengthen Community Mental Health Teams in both Adult and Children's mental health services which will ensure, at a minimum, that at least one of each mental health professional discipline is represented on every team. It is intended that the additional resources will be rolled out in conjunction with a scheme of appropriate clinical care programmes. Some of the funding will also be used to advance activities in the area of suicide prevention and to initiate the provision of psychological and counselling services in primary care, specifically for people with mental health problems. The HSE's National Service Plan for 2012 sets out the actions to be taken in 2012 to progress the implementation of A Vision for Change. The Service Plan commits to the recruitment of over 400 additional staff to implement the €35m package of measures. It also includes a commitment to reduce acute in-patient capacity by a minimum of 153 beds nationally in 2012 in the context of the reconfiguration of services and the redeployment of existing staff resources away from over-provision of acute in-patient beds towards community based services.
To implement the National Service Plan the HSE has published detailed Regional Plans which take account of the additional funding being invested this year in mental health. The National and Regional Service Plans will be the subject of continuous review.
