CHARITIES PLAY A key role in Ireland’s mental health sector, but does the State rely too much on voluntary organisations to provide such essential services?
Martin Knapp, a professor of health and social care policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said it is relatively normal in Europe for governments to rely on charities to provide at least some mental health services. The first high-security psychiatric hospital was set up in Ireland in the 19th century in the form of a ‘criminal lunatic asylum’, according to a 2007 report on mental health policy in Europe.
Knapp said the charitable sector has a mixed history, but an overall “good reputation for doing things in the mental health area” at this stage. Ivan Cooper, director of advocacy with The Wheel – a national association for charities and voluntary organisations, said Ireland’s mental health sector is “very much a hybrid system” between State, voluntary and private services.
The group behind the report said it believed the voluntary sector should stay but with a need to recognise it as legally separate and enable it to work closer with the State. “There’s a lot of dialogue around mental health and wellness and eating your broccoli, going for your walk, listening to your podcasts, doing your self-care,” she said.
I think many people who are going through a mental health crisis don’t want that additional anxiety of worrying about what will happen if they go to services and refer themselves for particular issues. “It’s not like providing physical health services or something; mental health services raise different issues.”
But across the charity sector, there has been some criticism in the past over too many charities with the same goal. A HSE spokesperson listed almost 30 voluntary organisations and NGOs that receive HSE funding on a national basis. Others outside of this also receive funding at a local level from Community Healthcare Organisations or from other government sources.
When it comes to revenue, central government funding was mentioned by 40% of charity respondents when identifying their top five sources of funding.
Remember when people were throwing themselves into the corrib? Simple Simon came out with €35mil for mental health services, Bout 24hrs later sliced that down to €15mil?... And sure most of that went into managements pockets and the Catholic cults peado defense fund.
If you go looking, you may find there is nothing there unless you can put your hand in your pocket
Absolutely does.
Yes thejournal.ie.... Do your job as journalists you may find what's going on...
No it's just the people running them on ludicrous salaries who count on the generosity of others affected by loss and do very little to actually help anyone other than themselves