Northern Ireland Health Minister, Edwin Poots, today launched the outcome of five reviews into the areas of mental health and learning disabilities.

The Health Minister launched the reviews, commissioned by HSC R&D Division, Public Health Agency, today in Belfast. The Minister said: “When the Bamford Review was concluded in 2007, there were a considerable number of areas of research need. These areas for research were prioritised into five sub-themes which would aim to identify any gaps in service delivery and to increase knowledge and understanding of mental health and learning disability issues.

“These five reviews are the first stage towards implementing the research recommendations of the Bamford Review. They looked at the available literature, identified policy implications, examined specified sub-themes and determined key research questions that would address current knowledge gaps. This information is vital in helping us to provide a much more efficient and effective service for people with mental health and learning disability issues.”

The five prioritised areas were:

• Children & Young People including early interventions, the needs of looked-after children and the development of resilience;
• Patient Outcomes including the measurement of recovery and the capture of patient feedback;
• Learning Disability including the management of challenging behaviours;
• Psychological Therapies including how to embed these in services for children and adults across the lifespan and including those with learning disability and severe mental health problems; and
• Primary Care including aspects important to the prevention, recognition and management of mental health in the community.

The Minister continued: “An evaluation of ongoing work around the Bamford Review, indicates around 80% of the actions committed to have been achieved, despite some reductions in the levels of resources anticipated at the outset.

“Much remains to be done, but, working together, I believe we can deliver the service enhancements envisaged by Bamford to meet the needs of service users, their carer and their families and continue to address the long-term Bamford Vision.”

Professor Bernie Hannigan, Director of HSC R&D, said: “The Bamford Review of Mental Health and Learning Disabilities identified the need for research to help with service and policy development in a number of areas. We worked with key stakeholders, gaining significant input from service users and carers along with professionals and researchers, to agree five top priorities. Research reviews were funded by HSC R&D Division, Public Health Agency (PHA) to set out current knowledge about policies and care services.

“We hope that the reviews will help to inform future development and delivery of Mental Health and Intellectual Disability services and so achieve the best outcomes for service users and their families. The reviews have also identified a number of important areas for further research. During today’s launch event we will announce a call for proposals for this new research, to be funded by HSC R&D Division.”