Minister calls for rapid mental health reform

IMPROVEMENTS in the mental health services are not happening fast enough, the minister with responsibility for the sector conceded yesterday.

Minister of State Tim O'Malley said he would regard it as a failure if the majority of people inappropriately placed in psychiatric hospitals were not rehoused in suitable accommodation within the next four years.

But while acknowledging mental health as the "cinderella" of the health services, he also warned that hospitals would have to stay within their budgets despite the demands for higher standards of care.