300 people in psychiatric care ‘should not be there’

ABOUT 300 people with intellectual disabilities are still languishing in psychiatric hospitals despite Government commitments to move them into community care.

The figures come despite a Government policy document on mental health published in 1984 which stated that people with intellectual disabilities in mental hospitals should be cared for separately. The policy’s successor, Vision for Change, published in 2006 also stated this group be cared for in more appropriate surroundings.

Labour’s disability spokeswoman, Kathleen Lynch, said it was “entirely inappropriate” that a person with an intellectual disability should be kept in a psychiatric hospital.