SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan has warned that Northern Ireland’s current approach to mental health crisis care is failing those who need it most; from patients in distress, to exhausted frontline staff in emergency departments.
Mr Durkan has called on the Health Minister Mike Nesbitt to consider the establishment of mental health crisis centres, which are currently being rolled out in England.
Said the Foyle MLA: “The current system is not working for anyone.
“Not for those presenting to overcrowded A&Es in mental health crisis nor the vulnerable patients waiting for treatment or overstretched staff who are being put in impossible situations.
“But failing to provide the right support at the right time doesn’t just overwhelm our emergency departments, it has a ripple effect across public services.
“The PSNI, for example, often have officers tied up in A&E supporting individuals in crisis, leaving fewer officers available on the ground, responding to crime and protecting communities.
“We urgently need to shift towards a ‘right care, right person’ model that ensures people in distress are supported by the appropriate professionals, in the right setting.
“Awareness alone won’t treat someone in crisis and the Health Minister, in his response, has acknowledged that.
“We need action, and that starts with properly staffing and equipping mental health services.
“To achieve that we need the political will from this Executive to invest in and prioritise mental health.
“Strategies are important starting points but without proper funding they’re little more than words on paper.
“What’s needed now is a regionally consistent response that guarantees people in crisis aren’t discharged back onto the streets without proper support and follow-up care they can rely on.”
