Dear Members,

To begin, I hope you are all keeping well and coping in these very difficult times.

These past nine months, due to the pandemic, have been extremely challenging for everyone but in particular frontline workers.

Dear Members,

To begin, I hope you are all keeping well and coping in these very difficult times.

These past nine months, due to the pandemic, have been extremely challenging for everyone but in particular frontline workers.

Apart from this being the Year of The Nurse, the COVID  -19 crisis has brought home to everyone the hard work, dedication and sacrifice that nurses give every day of their working lives.

Unfortunately, it took a pandemic to recognise and appreciate the expertise, commitment, and value of nursing in the health service. Much of the Covid-19 focus has been on the general services but make no mistake about it this virus has had an impact on all our members in the mental health, intellectual disability and ambulance services and how these services are delivered.

The Mental Health Commission published a paper in July which reviewed the data and observations gathered from Irish Mental Health services during Covid-19 from 4th April to 6th July 2020.

Data was collated from 181 residential services compromising of approved centres and 24 hour staffed residencies with a total bed capacity of 3,899 beds. Overall, 28 of the services reported having a resident who was Covid positive, this equates to 15% of these services.

This is a testament to how well this pandemic has been managed overall by the mental health services with their quick response and adaption of services to manage this virus.

It is widely predicted by international experts, Government Ministers, senior HSE management and commentators that one impact of Covid -19 on our community is that we face a tsunami of mental health issues for many years after we emerge from this pandemic. It is a sobering thought that none of us want to see come to pass.

Despite all the concerns expressed regarding the impact of Covid-19 on the mental health of the community, there was no extra funding allocated for mental health in the HSE’s 2020/2021 Winter Plan.  

Move forward and several weeks later an extra €4 billion in spending was allocated to the health budget for 2021 with just €50 million allocated to mental health. Of this €50 million it emerged that €12 million is to support existing levels of services This equates to mental health receiving less than 1% of the overall €4billion budget increase.

The health budget is now €20billion including the additional €4billion increase. Of this mental health has a budget allocation of €1billion which now means that the mental health budget has been reduced from just over 6% to 5%.

This is outrageous and clearly highlights the lack of understanding of our politicians of the inadequacy of our current services or the extent of the growing demands for mental health services at every level.

Reducing the budget by 1% is incomprehensible and a retrograde step especially when it comes just four months after the launch of the latest ten-year Government strategy “Sharing the Vision.

Government must address the deficits in the provision of mental health and prepare  as a matter of urgency  for the impending sharp rise in demand for services in the same manner that the Covid crisis has led to a  build-up of  capacity in the intensive care units and general hospital services.

More than ever, as we emerge from the long, difficult months of Covid-19 and struggle to deal with its consequences, it is time to prioritise and invest in mental health services to respond to the needs of every citizen in this country.

These past nine month have been extremely challenging and stressful for all citizens of the country and in particular frontline workers and their families I want to commend all our members on how they met these challenges with commitment, dedication and pure professionalism.

I would like to wish to wish you all a safe, happy Christmas and a more prosperous new year.

Peter Hughes 

General Secretary

You Can View General Secretary's Address To Conference 2020 Here