Mental health facilities 'must be improved' before new Covid-19 surge

In a Covid-19 review paper published today, the Mental Health Commission found 28 of 181 mental health services reported confirmed resident cases of Covid-19 in the monitoring period, while 47 services reported confirmed staff cases of Covid-19. File picture: Juan Pablo Serrano Arenas/Pexels

The Mental Health Commission has warned that facilities for people with serious mental health issues need to be improved ahead of any second wave of Covid-19 after finding that  31% of the facilities it monitored in the initial surge of the virus had a positive test.

In a Covid-19 review paper published today, the commission said from March to July this year it gathered information on 181 mental health services, comprising 67 in-patient units and 114 unregulated community residences, which altogether care for about 3,900 service users.