Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 June 2013
219. Deputy Michael P. Kitt asked the Minister for Health the number of psychiatric patients who have been moved from psychiatric hospitals to community care settings since 2006, when A Vision for Change was published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28553/13]
Amharc ar fhreagra220. Deputy Michael P. Kitt asked the Minister for Health the number of patients who are still in psychiatric institutional care; the reasons for this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28554/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 219 and 220 together.
Data on the number of psychiatric patients who have moved from psychiatric hospitals to community care is not collected. Where necessary, care and treatment for such patients is mostly provided in the community through a variety of services including community mental health services, day hospitals, day centres and through home based treatment teams. Many other patients requiring mental health services outside the acute setting are accommodated in a variety of low, medium and high support hostels. There are approximately 2,790 beds in those settings. However, the latter groups do not necessarily come from discharges from the acute services.
The number of patents discharged from psychiatric units and hospitals during the period 2006-2011 is set out below:
|
Year |
Number of Discharges |
|
2006 |
20,098 |
|
2007 |
20,498 |
|
2008 |
20,603 |
|
2009 |
20,213 |
|
2010 |
19,614 |
|
2011 |
18,968 |
The data for 2012 is not yet available.
Significant progress has been made in closing the old traditional psychiatric hospitals and providing modern acute in-patient facilities in line with A Vision for Change. Progress has also been made in providing appropriate alternative continuing care accommodation for those service users who require such accommodation.
There continues to be a reduction in the bed capacity in the older psychiatric hospitals with 394 beds at the start of 2013 compared to 1,352 beds in such premises at the end of 2009. The HSE’s Service Plan 2013 commits to continuing to rationalise adult in-patient and continuing care provision in line with A Vision for Change and the reduction of a minimum of 102 acute in-patient beds by end 2013. In addition, there has been considerable decline in the number of patients resident in Irish psychiatric units and hospitals over recent years. A Census conducted by the Health Research Board on Irish Psychiatric Hospitals and Units shows that the number of patients in psychiatric hospitals and units on 31st March 2010 was 2,812 compared to 3,398 in 2006.
