Northern Ireland

Urgent call for 10-year mental health strategy to be created in Northern Ireland

Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol has backed calls for a strategy to tackle mental health service delays
Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol has backed calls for a strategy to tackle mental health service delays Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol has backed calls for a strategy to tackle mental health service delays

SNOW Patrol's Gary Lightbody yesterday backed a charity's call to set up a ten-year mental health strategy in Northern Ireland to tackle rising suicide rates and delays for services.

The Bangor born singer, who has spoken openly about suffering from depression, yesterday attended an event hosted by Ulster University (UU) and Action Mental Cancer.

A report carried out by UU academics has found that waiting lists for mental health patients in the north are now 24 times greater than in England and Wales combined - with 120,000 people waiting more than a year for access to health services.

Report author, Professor Siobhan O’Neill said: “The evidence suggests that in Northern Ireland there is an urgent and compelling need for a fully costed, mental health strategy as current provision is fragmented, under-funded and overstretched. We need a long-term commitment to address the changes required.”

Commenting on the latest waiting times figures Professor Deirdre Heenan said the impact of "extensive" delays on mental health patients and their families "can only be negative".

"A recent report by the Children’s Commissioner explained how vulnerable young people talked about their mental health deteriorating, for some to a crisis point, as a direct result of the delay in being able to access services," Professor Heenan said.

"A patient on the waiting list in Northern Ireland is at least 36 times more likely to have been waiting for more than a year compared to Wales, and more than a thousand times more likely to have been waiting over a year than a patient in England. This is simply not acceptable.

"For too long mental health services have been an afterthought in Northern Ireland. If the health service is to become more efficient, it is vital that physical health and mental health are integrated."