The Department of Health has been urged to prioritise mental health and increase funding.
The Report on Mental Health Services in Northern Ireland, launched on Thursday by the Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) examines spending in terms of good practice and poor value for money.
The committee also recommended a department review of the adequacy of its provision of “early support” for children and an action plan to address mental health waiting lists.
PAC made its recommendations following the 2023 Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) report which concluded the north’s 10-year Mental Health Strategy was “at risk without sustained, additional investment”.
PAC chairman Daniel McCrossan of the SDLP said mental health was one of the “biggest issues affecting people in Northern Ireland”.
“Due to the history of trauma here, our mental health difficulties tend to be more severe and complex - resulting in cases which are more difficult to treat,” he said.
“As a committee, we have learned that many mental health issues are preventable and that both the financial cost to society and the suffering of many can be reduced. However, there are significant gaps in services, with many of the most vulnerable not getting the care they need.”
According to the March 2022 report: The economic case for investing in the prevention of mental health conditions in the UK, the cost of mental ill-health in the north was estimated at £3.4 billion per year.
This, it said, was due to the lost productivity of people living with mental health conditions and costs incurred by unpaid informal carers who take on a great deal of responsibility in providing mental health support in our communities.
Among the 16 recommendations made by the PAC is the health department setting out a target and timeframe over which it will grow mental health funding towards 10-11% of its total budget.
Acknowledging the vital role played by the voluntary and community sectors in providing mental health services, the committee expressed concern they were often the “first port of call when funding cuts were required”.
The permanent secretary of the health department acknowledged in the report that waiting lists were “too long”.
He added that productivity “can only be stretched so far and little can be done to reduce waiting lists and improve waiting times without additional investment in the workforce”.
He added: “Competing finances, however, mean it is difficult to deliver the enhancements necessary to help address waiting lists.”
Speaking to The Irish News, Sara Boyce, organiser with Participation and the Practice of Rights New Script for Mental Health, one of the PAC Report contributors, said there were “serious failings in in transparency and accountability around mental health data”.
