Irish College of Psychiatrists
raise Funding and Representation with Minister Harney
In recent correspondence
with Minister Harney, Kate Ganter, Chairman of the Irish College
of Psychiatrists said, “We are encouraged that there will be
an increase in funding of the Mental Health Services, although
we are disappointed that the increase does not take into account
the fact that only 6.8% of the health budget in 2004 was for mental
health.We are very under-resourced”
Dr Ganter went on to stress ‘the need for more specific
detail on specific allocations to mental health’. The entire
array of funding difficulties confronting psychiatrists and their
patients was presented to The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health
earlier this year. The Irish College is extremely concerned that
the percentage increase in funding for mental health over the
years in relation to other specialities continues to be the lowest.
The implications of this ongoing trend are clearly manifesting
themselves and will generate crisis situations throughout the
service in the coming years.
Dr
Ganter has also raised the issue of representation from the
Irish College on a key working group - and said, “It has
come to my attention that there is no representative for psychiatry
on the National Primary Care Steering Group.Psychiatrists work closely with members of the proposed
Primary Care Teams, GPs, Nurses, Speech and Language Therapists,
Social Workers and Psychologists.Many individuals seen by professionals at primary care
level have mental health problems and it is in their best interests
that all professionals at Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Care
levels collaborate and develop shared care plans for individual
patients.
She
explained that the Irish College of Psychiatrists would welcome
an opportunity to nominate a Psychiatrist from to this very
important Steering Group.
Irish College of Psychiatrists, 121 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin
2, Rep. of Ireland. Tel: +353 1 402 2346 Fax: +353 1 402 2344 email: icpsych@eircom.net
