Early intervention psychosis service opens at Our Lady’s
Two new mental health facilities were opened at Our Lady's Hospital Navan last week by the Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler.
The Compass Early Intervention in Psychosis Service and the Cara Suite Community Mental health service were officially launched by the Minister.
The Meath Early Intervention Programme is part of a HSE National Clinical Programme for Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP). Psychotic disorders affect about three per cent of the population in their lifetime and can be disabling, alienating and sometimes terrifying for service users and their families.
Early intervention services seek to identify those with a first episode of psychosis early, and to provide individualised, tailored, enhanced care to service users and their families. The aim of the Meath EIP service is to allow for ease of access for GPs and families of those who have a first episode psychosis, ensuring less delays in accessing treatment and providing evidence based treatments and interventions for those with this illness in a timely manner.
Dervila Eyres, Head of Mental Health Services for Midlands Louth Meath Community Healthcare Organisation said:
“The Meath Early Intervention Programme is an important addition to our mental health services in the county. Early intervention in psychosis is important. T
“The provision of a range of evidence-based multi-disciplinary interventions for service users and their families is important, as is an ethos of hope and recovery. The purpose of the early intervention programme for psychosis is to improve outcomes for services users and their families.”
Minister Butler said: “The development of early intervention in psychosis services has become a key priority in mental health service provision both internationally and here in Ireland.
"Early intervention for psychosis teams substantially improve the quality of patients’ lives. I’m delighted to be here to officially launch Meath’s EIP which enhances mental health services locally and nationally as part of the wider programme. My focus continues to be the roll out of Clinical Programmes across the country.”
Minister Butler also officially opened the Cara Suite, a community mental health service allowing people to access services in their local area or at home. The Cara Suite, based in Our Lady’s Hospital Navan, offers a service that is an alternative to in-patient hospital treatment which is delivered within the least restrictive environment, that being the service user’s home or attendance in the Cara suite for treatment and intervention though day hospital programmes, home visits, domiciliary visits, phone support seven days per week.
It offers daily programmes including anxiety management, distress tolerance, wellness and recovery, cookery and art therapy.
Dervila Eyres said: “Cara Suite promotes delivery of community-focused, high-quality, person-centred service based on best evidence. It facilitates early discharge from the acute in-patient hospital in order to ensure a smooth transition from hospital to home and endeavours to support and promote each person’s choices, needs and abilities.”
Minister Butler said: “The Cara Suite is another valuable addition to mental health services in the area, building on the opening of Drogheda Department of Psychiatry in 2016. It is hugely important in further developing community Mental Health services for service users and their families.
“The Cara Suite provides a wide range of therapeutic services seven days a week, meeting the needs of the population in an accessible and person-centred way and in line with Sharing the Vision our national mental health policy.”