Mental health: Despite a rise in the profile of mental health issues and the reduction in stigma attached to this area of medicine, there is now more inequity in terms of State investment than ever before, according to the chief executive of Mental Health Ireland, Brian Howard.
Mr Howard has called on the Government to complete the full implementation of Planning For The Future, a 20-year-old report drawn up by health board officials, medics and representatives of the voluntary sector. The report sought to set out a clear way forward for the development of mental health services in Ireland but it has still not been implemented fully into public policy.
"Suicide and mental health in general is no longer a taboo subject in Ireland but there seems to be a reluctance, for some reason, to invest heavily in it," said Mr Howard, who added that the mental health share of the overall health budget is currently 6 to 8 per cent compared with 12 per cent during the 1980s.
"The report provides for a community-based service, manned by a multidisciplinary medical team but it has only been implemented in a stop-start manner by successive governments. Depending on where you live in Ireland, spending varies hugely with great inequity. It is very disheartening that it doesn't seem to feature as a core issue for politicians. If you were cynical you would say that there are not many votes contained in this issue. We have an uphill battle to try and reverse the inequities in mental health," he said.
This weekend, an annual conference organised by Mental Health Ireland will call on the Minister for Health Mary Harney to increase public spending on mental healthcare. The conference, which takes place in the Radisson Hotel in Letterkenny, Co Donegal from May 20th to May 22nd, will also discuss several other issues relating to the area of mental health.
"We need much more equity in the provision and distribution of a wide range of services. For example, access to an acceptable standard of housing, employment, education, health services, greater support for carers and initiatives which promote positive mental health among young people," said Mr Howard.
Among the speakers at this weekend's conference will be Dr Maurice Manning of the Irish Human Rights Commission, John Lonergan, governor of Mountjoy Prison, Emily Logan, ombudsman for children, Dr Owen Metcalf of the Institute of Public Health in Ireland, Martin Rogan of the Health Services Executive and Dr Geraldine Lyster, chairwoman of Mental Health Ireland.
The conference will also include a number of workshops to examine issues such as caring for a multiculturally diverse society, recent policy developments in social housing, access to employment, child and adolescent mental health and a presentation of a Scottish model for improving mental wellbeing.
"Funding for mental health has almost halved as a proportion of the overall health budget. That is damaging to the morale of people in the voluntary sector who interpret this as a lack of understanding and appreciation of the work that needs to be done. It is curtailing progress both in services for those with mental health difficulties and in promoting positive mental health practices among young people, who are very vulnerable to mental health pressures, often tragically so," said Mr Howard.