State must stop outsourcing mental health care
State must stop outsourcing mental health care - The Labour Party
- Mental health outsourcing cost hits €93m
- New PQ answers show UK patient transfers now routine
Labour’s Health Spokesperson Marie Sherlock TD has said the State must urgently invest in building public mental health care capacity following the release of shocking new figures that show spiralling costs for private mental health provision. Figures released to Deputy Sherlock by the HSE on 11th April reveal that the State is currently spending almost €93 million annually on outsourcing mental health care – with growing reliance on services in the United Kingdom.
Deputy Sherlock said:
“The alarming figures released to me by the HSE on the drastic increase in spending on private provision of mental health care are a clear indictment of our public mental health services. The State is increasingly relying on private providers to deliver care that should be provided directly through the public system.
“In 2018, the HSE spent €46 million on private providers. That figure is now €79 million for 2024. Already, €7.5 million has been spent this year. This level of outsourcing is simply unsustainable and reflects deep structural failings in the public system.
“What’s even more shocking is the scale of reliance on mental health services in the UK. We spent nothing on care in the UK in 2018 and 2019. That figure has now exploded to almost €13 million in 2024 – double what was spent in 2023. We now have a situation where Irish patients are being sent across the Irish Sea, far from their homes, and support networks, because we cannot provide appropriate care here. That is completely unacceptable.
“The HSE has confirmed that this outsourcing is driven by an inability to meet patient needs within our own services. They are struggling to provide secure settings for children, care for people with multi-axial disorders, and specialist services for severe eating disorders. This is a failure of planning, investment, and ultimately, leadership.
“While this spending ensures patients do get some form of care, it must be a wake-up call. That €93 million should be going towards building our own capacity – hiring more staff, opening more beds, and delivering care locally. Instead, we are writing cheques to private providers – many of whom are also employing the nurses and clinicians we trained in our public system.
“I know from speaking with frontline staff that our public mental health services are buckling under the pressure of poor staffing levels. Many are leaving for the private sector where pay and conditions are better – and then the HSE ends up paying those same providers to deliver care. It’s a bizarre and wasteful cycle.
“We urgently need a reset. The HSE must address these runaway costs and shift its focus to building up local, public mental health services. That means investing in specialist units, increasing the number of funded posts, and ensuring fair pay and decent working conditions for staff.
“We in Labour are calling on the HSE to urgently act to reduce dependence on private providers, invest in public capacity, and increase funded posts across the public mental health system.”
ENDS
Editors notes:
* These figures outline the spend in private placements excluding National Office service arrangements for Specialist Rehabilitation Unit Beds (Bloomfield and Highfield s39) and CHO St. John of God service arrangement with SJOG private hospital for outsourced bed capacity in CHO 6.
Link to Parliamentary Question: https://labour.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/PQ-13261-25-Private-psychiatric-funding-002.pdf