The Health Minister Mike Nesbitt, MLA, who has stressed that Mental Health is one of his key areas of focus, paid a visit to the Downe Hospital to meet our staff and some service users in the Dementia Assessment and Treatment Unit and Mental Health Inpatient Unit.
The Minister was joined by our Chief Executive Roisin Coulter and the Assistant Director of Community Mental Health, Jackie Carr who were keen to show the Minister the fantastic work that takes place in the Downe Hospital. While he was there, the Minister had an opportunity to chat to some service users, consultants and nurses and was really pleased to receive a hand-made tile painting to commemorate his visit.
The Health Minister said, “It was great to visit the Downe Hospital, it is a really good functioning hospital. One of my passions is good mental health and that is becoming much more of a challenge to Health and Social Care, particularly with a more elderly population.
“It was important to come and see the doctors and nurses who are working with people who have severe mental health issues and patients with dementia. The care, professionalism and the dedication of staff is what I will take away with me today. This really energises me in my role.”
Chief Executive Roisin Coulter added, “We are absolutely delighted that the Minister visited the Downe Hospital which shows his commitment and ours to mental health and dementia services. There is a tremendous history here and pride in supporting people with mental illness, not only in the hospital, but also in the community. We are very clear about the challenges we are facing and we need to have more investment in mental health services.”
As well as visiting the 10-bedded Dementia Assessment and Treatment Unit, the Health Minister also toured the Mental Health Inpatient Unit, which has 25 beds for people with a mental illness but without a diagnosis of dementia. It is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by multi-disciplinary teams such as medical psychiatry, nursing, social work and occupational therapy staff.
Assistant Director of Community Mental Health, Jackie Carr, commented, “Mental health appears to be a priority for the Minister. It is important that the Minister sees the great work that we have done in the Trust and the work that still needs to be done. The COVID Pandemic definitely has had an impact, but more than that, we are also seeing an increase in the complexity of need and almost a trebling in demand for our services. We know that we have more people under 65 developing dementia and we are seeing a lot more issues with drugs and alcohol.”
The staff and service users really appreciated the visit and getting the opportunity to discuss the work they do in mental health, that they are so passionate about.
