Debate contribution: Mental Health Provision in Northern Ireland

Debate contribution by Mr Danny Donnelly on 30 September 2024.

MLA

Mr Danny Donnelly

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

30 September 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Mental Health Provision in Northern Ireland

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4563495

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank the SDLP for tabling this motion. As one of my party's spokespersons on health, I welcome the focus on health and especially mental health in these Opposition day motions. We have a mental health crisis in Northern Ireland, as has been pointed out. It is extremely concerning that the number of people whom we have lost to suicide is now higher than the number of people who lost their lives in the Troubles. Tackling poor mental health and suicide prevention must be a priority for the Minister of Health and the Executive as a whole. It is welcome that the draft Programme for Government references mental health in reference to other Departments. To give an example, the Programme for Government refers to the importance of sport to both physical and mental health and the development of local sports facilities, which is a responsibility for the Minister for Communities. We need to address the causes of poor mental health and its overlap with deprivation and the legacy of the Troubles. In 2023, one in five adults in Northern Ireland was prescribed an antidepressant. The highest uptake — 27% — was in the poorest areas of Northern Ireland, which are, largely, the same areas that were most heavily impacted on by the conflict. That represents a fourfold rise in the prescribing of antidepressants in the past 20 years. There has also been a rise in the provisional figures for deaths by suicide, as mentioned by Órlaithí, from 203 in 2022 to 221 in 2023. As mentioned, we should be aware of the fact that these are people's lives and families. The percentage of suicides in 2022 was three times higher in Northern Ireland's most deprived areas than in the least deprived areas. We need a more urgent response from the Department of Health to address the crisis. The mental health strategy was a welcome step towards reform and transformation of our mental health services, and we need to see its full implementation. Some progress has been made on its 35 actions, but not enough. We also need an update on the implementation of the Department's Protect Life 2 suicide prevention strategy, which was extended last year to the end of 2027. Restricting access to means is one of the most effective ways of reducing the risk of suicide, and, as part of the Protect Life 2 strategy, the Minister of Health must work collaboratively, particularly with the Minister for Infrastructure, to identify and progress any urgent work to prevent further loss of life to suicide. Targets to address the prevalence of anxiety, depression and other mental health conditions must also be introduced by the Department of Health, along with actions that can be taken to address and reduce those conditions. They should address all relevant age groups, with particular consideration given to children and young people and to older people. We need to see clear evidence that these strategies and actions are having a positive impact on the delivery of services. The lack of data on mental health services remains a huge issue, as highlighted by a number of organisations, including the Office for Statistics Regulation, the Northern Ireland Audit Office and, most recently, the Assembly's Public Accounts Committee. We need to know that the decisions being made and taken through these strategies represent the best value for money and are improving necessary mental health services. Overlong mental health waiting lists result in people who need support very quickly not getting it, and, inevitably, their condition gets a lot worse. We know that much mental health support comes from the community and voluntary sector. Action 17 of the mental health strategy is to:

"Fully integrate community and voluntary sector".

That is being commenced, but agreement is being sought on the best way forward. As we will no doubt hear later, many of those community services also rely on funding, which, as we know, is very constrained. Many Members will be aware of postnatal depression and perinatal mental health, and I commend Claire Sugden for speaking so openly on the issue this morning. Depressive symptoms are very common during and after pregnancy, and the recent study of maternal health and maternal morbidity (MAMMI) in Ireland by Trinity College in Dublin was discussed at last week's North/South Inter-Parliamentary Association meeting, which was the first since 2016. I congratulate the Speaker on his involvement in making that important meeting happen. The study showed that 9·3% of respondents experienced depressive symptoms before pregnancy, 12·2% during pregnancy, 17·7% three months after the birth of their first child and 12·8% a year postpartum. Yet, many women were not asked about feeling depressed or low by their GP, midwife or public health nurse. Clearly, much needs to be done to support women suffering from mental health conditions related to childbirth, and, while we recognise the progress of delivering perinatal mental health services across all five trusts in Northern Ireland, we will continue to push for the delivery of an inpatient mother-and-baby unit in Northern Ireland. As the chair of the all-party group on addiction and dual diagnosis, I am hugely concerned about the level of addiction and the number of deaths from drug overdose in our communities, as mentioned by Órlaithí Flynn. We need to progress to a harm reduction model, and we need to progress an overdose prevention centre in Northern Ireland to help to save the lives of people who are using drugs. In short, we know that we are in a crisis, and we need to focus on solutions.

925 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:06 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

Disagree with this assessment?

Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification