Mental health expert group ‘must look beyond outdated British model’

THE expert group charting the way forward for mental health services here must look beyond the outdated British model, a top psychiatrist has warned.

“Let’s hope it is a new roadmap and not a rehashing of old methods of dealing with psychiatric problems,” said Prof Patrick McKeon, medical director at St Patrick’s Hospital in Dublin.

He was especially anxious that the group resisted copying what was happening in Britain, where psychiatry and the care of the mentally ill had taken several steps backwards in recent years.