This new Board will act as champions for people with mental health and learning disabilities and will be one of the driving forces in delivering the Bamford reforms.
Speaking after an Assembly debate, the Minister said: “Their role will be to challenge me and my Department and ensure that the most appropriate services are provided. I have decided to set up this Board following the unsuccessful recruitment process to appoint a Director of Mental Health and Learning Disability.
“In an effort to avoid further delay, I have asked my officials for proposals on how this will be put in place as a matter of urgency.”
The Minister said there was further good news for mental health services as the Minister announced that work on the new £5m mental health adolescent specialist unit in Belfast will start this Autumn. Good progress was also being made on a new replacement £10m mental health facility for children. Together these units will provide 33 specialist places for children and young people in line with Bamford recommendations.
The Minister said: “I am committed to improving mental health services for children and adolescents. It is essential that mental health services are reformed and modernised if we are to meet the needs of our children and young people. The new facilities represent a significant investment in the provision of state-of-the-art services for some of our most vulnerable people.
“The Bamford report estimates that 45,000 children and adolescents in Northern Ireland could have a moderate to severe mental health disorder which requires help from our health services. These statistics highlight the extent of the problem facing our young children and the need for sustained action by all of us – not just government, but society in general. Children are all our responsibility.”
Turning to inpatient services the Minister said that there had been difficulties in providing specialist mental health facilities for children and young people in Northern Ireland.
He said: “There are currently 15 beds for children up to the age of 13 and 8 beds for adolescents from 14 to 17. Work on the new replacement £5 million facility at Foster Green will start in the Autumn, while an outline business case is being considered for the new replacement £10 million children’s unit on the same site. These two facilities together would provide 33 places for children and adolescents.
“I am aware that there have been staffing difficulties and the local health and social care trust is taking all necessary steps to address recruitment difficulties and increase staffing levels.”
Announcing another important new measure to support early intervention in treating young people with mental health difficulties, the Minister said:
“There will always be a need for beds for those young people suffering from severe problems. Our focus must be on early interventions – reaching children with mental health problems at the earliest stage so they do not go on to develop severe problems. From June this year the first of a number of Northern Ireland-wide Crisis Intervention Teams will be in operation. These teams will have the ability to treat patients immediately or involve other specialists as necessary.
“Tackling this issue and ensuring that improved services for children and adolescents are available is one of my key priorities. I am committed to building on the work that has already been done and to further improve services, in line with the recommendations arising from the Bamford Review.“
NOTES TO EDITORS:
- There are 15 in-patient beds available in the Child and Family Centre for young people up to, and including, the age of 13 years who have mental health problems.
- There are currently 8 beds open in the interim in-patient unit at Knockbracken which caters for adolescents from 14 – 17 years. The total number of beds available for children and adolescents is currently 23 beds. Works are currently underway in the unit to increase the number of beds to 12 by the summer which will bring the total number of beds to 27.
- There are plans to build a new mental health adolescent inpatient unit at Foster Green to replace the existing inpatient facilities which will provide 18 place. This unit is planned to open mid-2009. Work is due to start on site in the Autumn.
- Also, an Outline Business Case is being considered to build a replacement of the 15-bed child psychiatric unit. (under 14 years) linked to this, on the same site, and sharing some common facilities. It is hoped to have business case approval by the summer. These together would provide an overall total of 33 places.
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