Mental health a ‘top priority’ for new Western Trust chair

By Roisin Henderson

THE new chair of the Western Trust has said improving mental health services will be one of his top priorities in his new role.

Dr Tom Frawley took over the position in May after the departure of his predecessor, Sam Pollock.

Addressing the June meeting of the Western Health Trust board, his first public meeting since his appointment, Dr Frawley paid tribute to the hard work of staff throughout and since the challenges of Covid, and said he had been inspired by their commitment.

“Every day in the media we’re reminded of what we haven’t got or what we’re failing to do, but I think sometimes it’s very important in terms of staff to talk about what we have done in very real terms,” he said, before going on to outline the huge numbers of patients that were treated across the Trust’s hospitals since the beginning of this year.

Dr Frawley said he believed the Trust could meet the challenge of rebuilding its services post-pandemic, as well as “renewing the morale of our staff, who have also taken a huge buffeting in every aspect through the Covid experience and other areas where they have taken their toll, as the expectations of the service have grown and developed.”

He added, “Yes, I accept the challenge that faces us in terms of the service and how we need to broaden, deepen it and develop it, but I don’t think either think we should take for granted what our staff are achieving every day in the face of some really challenging circumstances.”

‘CONCERNED’

Referring to the budget pressures building within the health service, and the “challenges” at the South West Acute Hospital, Dr Frawley said he was particularly concerned about a recent report from the NI Audit Office which he said had been “powerful.”

“They highlighted, for example, that the cost of mental health to this jurisdiction is £3.4 billion a year, that mental health funding in Northern Ireland is the lowest in the United Kingdom, and that waiting lists for mental health have been growing prior to the pandemic and have been escalating since the pandemic significantly,” he said.

Noting Covid had “a huge effect on those services”, he continued, “Improving mental health has to be a huge part of our future agenda.

“Obviously that’s something we share with the other boards in Northern Ireland, and we want to refocus on that going forward as we try to respond to the needs of that important service and the challenges presented in that Audit Office report.”