'Assistant Minister for Mental Health' appointed

Wednesday 26 June 2019

A dedicated Assistant Minister with responsibility for “refreshing” the island’s mental health services and suicide prevention strategy has been appointed, as the service aims to improve in the wake of a damning report.

The Health Minister, Deputy Richard Renouf, officially signed over the responsibilities to Senator Steve Pallett on Friday.

The move follows strong criticism of the service in a report published in March, which described a dearth of out-of-hours services, leaving adult islanders facing a mental health “crisis” to be sheltered in police cells.

Meanwhile, Orchard House – the island’s main mental health facility – was found to be in a highly “dilapidated” state, with the rooms inside described as being similar to “prison cells”.

The Health Minister has since pledged improvements, announcing the end of “prison-like” treatment and confirming that £5.5million was to be spent on modernising the facility, while patients are rehoused in nearby Clinique Pinel, over a period of up to 10 years.

Pictured: A Scrutiny report said the island's mental health facilities were in serious need of improvement.

In another move aimed at improving oversight of the service, Senator Steve Pallett has been given dedicated political responsibility for it.

As well as treatment for wellbeing-related issues, his new role will also cover creating a “dementia strategy.”

“The scope of delegation covers all areas relating to Mental Health Services, including strategic planning, operational delivery, and management of the associated workforce. In relation to his specific area of responsibility only, Senator Pallett would also be able to lodge propositions, make statements and respond to ministerial questions. He would also be able to sign Ministerial Decisions relating to the business areas under these responsibilities,” a report explaining the new set of Assistant Ministerial responsibilities explained.

The Assistant Minister’s new responsibilities will specifically include:

• refreshing the mental health strategy;
• refreshing the suicide prevention framework;
• developing a wellbeing strategy;
• developing a dementia strategy;
• overseeing changes in the children’s mental health service (CAMHS);
• overseeing recruitment and training programmes for the sector.

The Minister for Health will, however, retain overall responsibility for two areas: “the location of mental health estate facilities where considered in conjunction with the future Hospital, and ongoing reviews of mental health and capacity legislation and the continuing implementation of that legislation.”