News from: media

April 24, 2009

Headline News Highlights (17th - 24th April 2009)

Mental Health

New student health card
Irish Times (Tue, 21 April 2009)
“PASS IT on” is the name of a new student card issued by Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) this week as part of a health support initiative. The card is due to be publicised at Mind your Head , a mental health awareness fair hosted tomorrow by GMIT’s student health unit. It carries key contact details for GMIT student services, counselling, the health unit and college chaplaincy, and is designed to be passed on to students by fellow students.

Mental Health Service

Funding cut for day-to-day mental health services
Irish Times (Fri, 24 April 2009)
The amount of funding being set aside by the Health Service Executive (HSE) to fund the day-to-day running of mental health services this year is €8.5 million less than last year.
In addition, its funding for primary and community care services is €11 million short of last year’s allocation. The figures are contained in the Government’s latest set of health estimates published yesterday.

Warning on home visits cutbacks
Irish Times (Fri, 24 April 2009)
It is only a matter of time before psychiatric nurses will be explaining to coroners courts why deceased patients who had lived in the community did not receive more regular visits, the general secretary of the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) has warned.

Nurses group threatens not to co-operate with inquiries
Irish Examiner (Fri, 24 April 2009)
The Psychiatric  Nurses’ Association has threatened to withdraw voluntary co-operation from  any future  inquiries conducted by the Mental Health Commission. This  follows  the  recent publication of a commission  report on care of psychiatric patients at  two  units  in, a draft  of  which was leaked in advance, and which the  association  claimscontained1  a’ number of un-founded allegations which reflected unfairly  on staff.

3,500 children waiting for mental health services
Irish Examiner (Fri, 24 April 2009)
More than 3,500 children and teens are on waiting lists trying  to  access mental health services, one third of them for more than a year.  The  figure   has   not changed in the last two years despite  a Health Service Executive (HSE) review of waiting  times in  February 2007  and  an  in-depth analysis of waiting  times and service usage in November 2008.

Mental health neglect
Irish Times (Thu, 23 April 2009)
AS A parable for our times, the mental health service tells a revealing story. Three years ago the Government adopted A Vision for Change as its blueprint to transform our neglected mental health service. It was accompanied by pledges that it would be fully resourced and implemented.

Prison a 'powder keg' for people with psychiatric problems
Irish Examiner (Thu, 23 April 2009)
Prison has  been  described by the Irish Penal Reform Trust as  the worst possible place for a person with schizophrenia and  a” powder  keg" for people with psychiatric  problems after a 25-year-old Dubliner, who , suffers from schizoaffective disorder,  was found guilty of the manslaughter of  a   fellow  Mountjoy inmate.

Reform sees budgets for mental health 'cut in half'
Irish Medical Times (Thu, 23 April 2009)
Doctors at the IMO conference heard that the net effect of mental health strategies was that they halved the mental health budget.
The first scientific session of the conference focused on mental health. The President of the College of Psychiatry of Ireland, Dr Justin Brophy, analysed the progress that had been made in implementing the mental health strategy, A Vision for Change.

Suicide Prevention

Suicide awareness launch for Meath
Weekender (Sat, 25 April 2009)
The official launch of a suicide awareness group in Meath aimed at educating people about suicide takes  place next week. SOSAD Ireland, which was set up in Drogheda, is being established to offer support and assistance to anyone affected by suicide or who is seeking help about a loved one who may be at risk.

Unused medicines 'dumped' safely
Irish Times (Tue, 21 April 2009)
A campaign encouraging people in Cork and Kerry to safely dispose of unused or out-of-date medicines has seen more than 3.5 tonnes of medicines collected in participating pharmacies. More than 260 bins of medicines were safely disposed of as part of the free “Dispose of Unused Medicines Properly” (Dump) campaign which was organised by the HSE South and the community pharmacists in Cork and Kerry and supported by Cork City Council, Cork County Council, Kerry County Council and the Regional Waste Management Office.

Eating Disorders

No role model
Irish Daily Mail (Fri, 24 April 2009)
She was hoping to represent her country in the Miss Universe  contest, and she certainly  had a figure that turned heads. Unfortunately for Stephanie, and to the consternation of health experts, it was for all the wrong reasons.
 

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