Mental health patients lacking key healthcare

The Mental Health Commission has said it is utterly unacceptable and a breach of human rights that people with severe mental illness are being denied essential healthcare services which could prolong their lives.

The commission’s inspector of mental health services Dr Susan Finnerty pointed out that: “People with a serious mental illness will typically die between 15 and 20 years earlier than those without, yet interventions which could prevent their physical illnesses are not being carried out.”