The Health Minister, Michael McGimpsey said he was committed to the development of dedicated personality disorder services within Northern Ireland.
A Northern Ireland Personality Disorder Strategy is now being developed to guide the development of services over the next few years.
Key proposals include:
- A regional centre providing outpatient and intensive day patient services for complex and severe personality disorders;
- The development of a network of dedicated Personality Disorder services across all Health and Social Care Trusts;
- A programme of training and awareness for staff;
- Establishment of user and carer networks;
- In reach services into prisons to support work with personality disordered offenders.
The Minister said: “In Northern Ireland, as elsewhere, one in 20 people have a personality disorder, some of which are very severe and can result in recurrent self-harming and in some cases extreme anti-social behaviour. Until now there has been a significant lack of dedicated services for people suffering from these disorders and this has been recognised by the Bamford review. This is a situation which I have inherited and one that I am now taking steps to address.
“I will be investing some £3million over the next two years to begin to develop, for the first time, dedicated services at both a regional and trust level. This will ensure that those people who do not require intensive specialised services can be treated locally to prevent their condition from becoming more serious.
“I also intend to establish day hospital provision for those more complex and severe personality disorders and for those people who have not responded to treatment within local services.
“There will be still be situations where some of the more severe cases will have to be sent to specialist centres in other parts of the UK, but it is vitally important that we now start the process of building these essential services to help support patients locally and provide them with every help possible in dealing with their condition.”
A Personality Disorders Workshop is being held today in Malone House which marks the start of a stakeholder consultation exercise, which will involve a wide range of professionals who are concerned with the treatment or management of people with a personality disorder.
The final strategy will be released for a public consultation early in the New Year.
Notes to editors:
- Previously, personality disorder was felt by many mental health professionals to be untreatable, however, there is now increasing evidence that treatments can be effective and NICE guidance on the management of certain personality disorders is expected in early 2009.
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