Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 July 2019
1668. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Health the number of involuntary admissions in 2018; and the percentage of admissions following a referral by a family member, a member of An Garda Síochána and a referral by a doctor, respectively. [33742/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe information the Deputy is seeking is set out in the Mental Health Commission's Annual Report for 2018 which was published and is available on the Commission's website.
In terms of admission orders in 2018, the Commission report that there were 2,435 such admissions, 1,825 of which were from the community, with 610 being regrades of voluntary patients already in approved centres.
The breakdown of applicant status for the 1,825 admission orders from the community as reported by the Commission is as follows:
- Spouse, civil partner, relative - 38%
- Authorised Officer - 14%
- Garda - 22%
- Other person - 22%
The Commission commented that the number of applications by family members are down 6% on 2017 and they have welcomed this decrease. The 'Other person' category above is quite broad and would include, for example, a doctor in an Emergency Department.
