IT WOULD be encouraging to think the Government’s plan to close Victorian-era mental institutions will finally usher in a new era of more humane psychiatric care. It has announced that within the next three years, it plans to raise millions from the sale of land which will be used to transfer about1,200 patients out of outdated mental hospitals and into new community-based accommodation.
But such promises have been made before. For more than 20 years there have been plans to redevelop St Ita’s hospital in Portrane, Co Dublin, and build a new acute unit on the grounds of Beaumont Hospital. It still has not happened. A few years ago about €40 million raised from the sale of land at St Loman’s in Mullingar disappeared into general exchequer funding. Much of this money has still not been reinvested into mental health services as was promised.
This is the problem with mental health: the pathway to a modern psychiatric service has been paved with good intentions but little else. More than 1,000 people continue to reside in grim and sometimes inhumane institutions. Significant numbers of children continue to be admitted to adult psychiatric units in violation of their rights. The concept of a fully fledged community-based mental health service seems as far away as ever.
The slow pace of change since the Government announced its 2006 strategy to modernise the sector, A Vision for Change, has been consistently criticised. The plan is progressive and ambitious. But it is being starved of funding and crippled by a recruitment embargo. There are also question marks over the viability of this latest initiative. It is predicated on raising money through the sale of mental health properties this year. But it is doubtful if there is demand for large tracts of land given the dire state of the housing market.
John Moloney, the Minister of State with responsibility for mental health, deserves some credit for seeking to revive the aims of A Vision for Change. However, as a junior minister without a voice at the Cabinet table, he is limited in his power. Mental health services need strong political champions and a long-term guaranteed source of funding. Progress should only be measured in results, not aspirational strategies or plans. It will be clear that progress is finally being made when young people receive a timely response to their conditions and when older people are no longer incarcerated in grim settings that are an affront to human dignity. Until then, campaigners will be forgiven for not holding their breath.