{"id":191053,"date":"2025-10-10T18:25:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T18:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/191053\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T18:25:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T18:25:10","slug":"stormont-scaling-back-mental-health-strategy-is-devastating-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/191053\/","title":{"rendered":"Stormont scaling back mental health strategy is ‘devastating’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BBCBBC<\/p>\n

Prof Siobhan O’Neill said Northern Ireland continues to spend less on mental health services per head than other parts of the UK<\/p>\n

Stormont’s mental health strategy being scaled back due to lack of funds is “absolutely devastating”, Northern Ireland’s mental health champion has said.<\/p>\n

Prof Siobhan O’Neill said the news was disastrous after a review<\/a> into the 10-year strategy found that only \u00a312.3m had been invested in 14 actions since it was published four years ago – just 16% of what was deemed necessary up to this point. <\/p>\n

Steve, a volunteer and service user of mental health charity Aware NI, said he feels “completely abandoned and let down”.<\/p>\n

It was estimated \u00a31.2bn was needed to implement the 35 actions initially set out, but Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said there was “no additional funding” to support the strategy.<\/p>\n

\"PAPA Media<\/p>\n

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said he was “personally disappointed” that a deliverability review was needed <\/p>\n

He added that he was “personally disappointed” that the deliverability review had to be conducted halfway through the strategy but that the new approach would be a “sharpening of our focus to maximise impact within the resources available”.<\/p>\n

Prof O’Neill said it was devastating news, particularly for those involved in developing the strategy and the schemes that are already under way. <\/p>\n

“It really is disastrous and our executive need to take a good look at this and think about what kind of society we want here,” she told the Good Morning Ulster<\/a> programme. <\/p>\n

Of the 35 actions, 15 actions have not begun and have received no funding, according to the review. <\/p>\n

Prof O’Neill said Northern Ireland continues to spend less on mental health services per head than other regions, despite having “more complex cases”.<\/p>\n

“We have a particular history that means our mental health problems are unique and different so our executive need to act on this and they need to do it now, it’s simply not good enough,” she added. <\/p>\n

Northern Ireland spent \u00a3212 per person on mental health services compared with \u00a3264 per person in England, according to the Department’s Strategic Planning and Performance Group.<\/p>\n

The review states the focus for 2026\/27 will be on developing the mental health workforce and regional mental health crisis services.<\/p>\n

In the following years, there will also be a focus on the mental health of older people, children and teenagers; support for people with severe and enduring mental ill health; and digital mental health.<\/p>\n

\"Steven<\/p>\n

Steven Herron has been turning to the charity Aware NI for support<\/p>\n

Steven Herron, who was diagnosed at 40 with borderline personality disorder and non-epileptic attack disorder, has been waiting for nearly a year to get an initial appointment with a mental health centre.<\/p>\n

He has turned to the charity Aware NI for support and says being able to speak to his peers and share coping strategies can “keep you going” but it’s “no replacement for the therapy”.<\/p>\n

“You wouldn’t expect someone with a broken arm just to run around with a broken arm, they would get help\u2026 but people with mental health issues are just left hanging in the wind,” he told BBC News NI. <\/p>\n

He added that the Department of Health needs to revaluate the funds for mental health services if “they’re serious about looking after us”. <\/p>\n

Karen Collins, chief executive of Aware NI, called for more to be done as she noted that mental health issues affect “every sector of our community” and “devastating stories behind every single one of these”.<\/p>\n

“We have people suffering day and daily who just want help and we’re failing them,” she added.<\/p>\n

\"GettyGetty<\/p>\n

The Department for Health is now stripping back its mental health strategy plan<\/p>\n

‘Our ambition remains strong’<\/p>\n

The health minister said the “financial constraints” within his department are “well documented”.<\/p>\n

He added: “This review does not represent a dilution of our commitment to delivering for mental health, but rather a sharpening of our focus to maximise impact within the resources available. <\/p>\n

“Our ambition remains strong, but it must be focused.”<\/p>\n

Nesbitt said mental health remains a “personal priority” for him and that he will continue to make the case that “sustained and additional investment” is necessary for the full strategy to be realised. <\/p>\n

Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) assembly member Colin McGrath has called for more funding from the Northern Ireland Executive as he said it is “long past the time where we finally started to treat people’s mental health with the seriousness it deserves”.<\/p>\n

The South Down MLA, who sits on the health committee, added that the lack of funding allocated to mental health services will “actually cost us more money in the long run”. <\/p>\n

“Allowing these problems to worsen has a greater impact on patients, creating challenges around work and in many areas of their lives,” he said.<\/p>\n

Information and support for those affected by any of the issues in this story can be found at the BBC’s Action Line.<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BBC Prof Siobhan O’Neill said Northern Ireland continues to spend less on mental health services per head than…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191054,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[102,1906,6623,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-191053","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-mental-health","10":"tag-mentalhealth","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}