Debate contribution: Mental Health Data

Debate contribution by Miss Órlaithí Flynn on 16 February 2026.

MLA

Miss Órlaithí Flynn

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

16 February 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Mental Health Data

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5391982

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I beg to move

Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

The motion is about something simple but absolutely fundamental: whether we can see clearly what is happening in our mental health services. If we cannot see the pressures in the system, we cannot relieve them; if we cannot measure performance, we cannot improve it; and, if we cannot track the need, we cannot meet it. The motion calls on the Minister to prioritise:

"a single, standardised mental health data system",

with routine public reporting across all health and social care trusts so that we can finally understand waiting times, workforce gaps, service demand, bed capacity, referrals, outcomes and whether investment is reaching patients. That is not a technical request; it is a basic requirement for safe, accountable services. Members across the Chamber will be aware that mental health services face enormous pressures. In the North, 290 people died by suicide last year. Suicide remains the leading cause of death for men under 50. Mental ill-health prevalence is among the highest in these islands. In December 2023, over 17,500 people were waiting for a first mental health appointment. Thousands are waiting for psychological therapies. We are unaware of the number of people on those waiting lists across the board. Members will be aware of this anyway, but the answer from the Minister to a question that I submitted recently stated that the trusts are recording data with low confidence because of the way in which the system is set up. Despite the numbers waiting and the numbers that are not reflected in those figures, we still cannot produce a current regional waiting-list total. That should shock every Member of the House. As legislators, we cannot scrutinise services that we cannot see. We cannot assess value for money without outcomes, and we cannot reduce inequalities if they are not measured. Without transparent data, postcode inequalities in access to mental healthcare will remain hidden and unaddressed. Oversight bodies have repeatedly warned about that. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) described mental health data as "extremely poor", and the Office for Statistics Regulation identified major gaps. Assembly questions confirmed the unreliable reporting during the Encompass transition. I hope that the Minister will be able to give us some information on how Encompass might be able to help with that, once it has bedded in properly. Since 2021, public bodies have warned about serious weaknesses in mental health data, but the core problems remain. Members may be surprised to learn that there is no statutory requirement to publish mental health performance data in the North. That would be unthinkable in most other areas of healthcare. There is also no routine public reporting of waiting times or activity across many core services, including adult mental health, psychological therapies, counselling, eating disorder services and wider community provision. At present, there is no interactive dashboard, no routine monthly reporting, no trust-by-trust comparison and no clear visibility of capacity or demand. What makes that even more concerning is the fact that we have strong policy frameworks in the mental health strategy and the Protect Life 2 suicide prevention strategy. We have clear commitments to parity of esteem, early intervention and improved outcomes, but how do we know whether the strategies are working? Almost five years into the mental health strategy, we still do not have a published outcomes framework.

When we are in the scenario that the mental health strategy cannot even receive a good proportion of its funding, it may be silly to talk about how we can monitor its outcomes. However, it is important that, for any investment that we put into the strategies or into mental health as a whole, we are able to assess what outcomes we get from that investment. The deliverability review confirmed that most actions in the strategy are paused or constrained and that monitoring progress remains limited. Without consistent data, we cannot track delivery. Without measurement, the strategy becomes aspiration rather than transformation. The mental health strategy cannot be delivered in the dark. This is not about capability: in England, Scotland and Wales, Governments publish routine mental health service data covering waiting times, activity, workforce, access and performance. England has a public mental health data hub that is updated regularly. In the North, we have no equivalent as yet. We cannot compare trusts, and we cannot track trends or monitor pressures in real time. That lack of visibility undermines planning, accountability and reform. This is not about technical capability: the same Department delivered one of the most sophisticated public health dashboards that we have ever seen during COVID-19. It provided real-time, transparent and accessible information to the public. The context is stark. Mental ill health costs our society £3·4 billion every year. Mental health receives around 7% of the Health budget, the lowest share across these islands. Around 80% of the strategy's actions are paused due to funding constraints. Workforce shortages are severe. Child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) waiting lists remain unacceptable, and young people reach services later and in greater distress. That is the reality behind the motion. I make it clear that the failure here is not with staff. Mental health workers across trusts, community organisations, charities and voluntary groups do extraordinary work under immense pressure. They carry risk daily, support families in crisis, fill gaps left by systemic under-capacity and save lives. I thank clinicians, community organisations, suicide prevention groups, family support services, peer workers and people with lived experience. I also acknowledge organisations such as New Script for Mental Health, the Royal College of Psychiatrists and many others, who have persistently highlighted the need for better data, investment and reform. They sustain a system that is stretched far beyond what is reasonable. The motion is not about spreadsheets; it is about safety. Without accurate data, we cannot plan workforce, allocate resources, identify unmet need, target prevention and deliver the strategy or ensure equality of access. We also cannot know whether change is happening. We face one of the highest burdens of mental ill health on these islands. We have strong strategies, clear commitments and dedicated staff and communities, but, without reliable data, we cannot see whether those commitments are being delivered. If we do not measure the system, we cannot fix the system, so I ask Members to support the motion so that we can bring transparency, accountability and real improvement to mental health services in the North.

1,073 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:56 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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