Government to close outdated psychiatric units

PATIENTS staying in outdated facilities will be living in new, community-based settings in three years’ time after the Government promised to close down 15 Victorian-era institutions.

Minister with responsibility for mental health, John Moloney, updating the Government’s Vision for Change strategy which began four years ago and which has been consistently criticised for the slow rate of implementation, said more would be done in the coming years to bolster services across the country.

The closure of the hospitals and the transfer of patients will be paid for by funding of €50 million a year over the next three years from the sale of buildings and land.