The Western Health and Social Care Trust has a “recurrent expenditure” on mental services is £27.6 million, Health Minister Edwin Poots has revealed.
Mr Poots also revealed 3,247 people had been referred to the mental health team in the Foyle constituency over a two year period up to April this year.
The Health Minister was responding to a written question from Derry SDLP MLA Pat Ramsey.
Mr Ramsey had asked the Minister to detail how many people had been referred to the mental health team in the Foyle constituency in the last two years and how many staff, and at what level, were available in that team.
The SDLP MLA also asked the Minister to detail the projected funding for mental health services up to 2015 and how many people had presented in the Foyle constituency with depression and anxiety problems in the last two years.
In response, Mr Poots said 3,247 people were referred to the mental health team in the Foyle constituency from April 2011 to April this year.
He added all new referrals were “in the first instance” referred to the Primary Care Mental Health team which was made up of a team manager, five social workers (band six and above), nine community psychiatric nurses (between band six and above), a consultant psychiatrist, a staff grade doctor, a junior doctor and six administration staff.
In response to Mr Ramsey’s query regarding projected funding up to 2015, Mr Poots said: “Currently the Western HSC Trust’s total recurrent expenditure on mental health services across the whole Trust is £27.6m. It is not possible at this stage to detail the projected funding for mental health services up to 2015.”
Mr Poots said information on the numbers of people who had presented in the Foyle constituency with depression and anxiety problems in the last two years was not available.
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