Mental health admissions in Western Trust double that of other health authorities
The number of mental health admissions in the Western Trust last year was more than double that of nearly every other health authority in the North.
In 2022/23, 35 per cent (1,542) of a total of 4,401 admissions under the Mental Health programme of care were in the Western Trust.
This was more than twice the number of admissions in the South Eastern (720 admissions), Belfast (676) and Southern (642) Trusts and almost double the number of admissions in the Northern Trust (821).
The average number of available beds in the mental health programme of care increased in the Western Trust by 10% (6.4) from 64 in 2021/22 to 70.4 in 2022/23.
During 2022/23, there was an average of 65.7 occupied beds in the Western Trust. This was an increase of 8.7 bed days (15.3%) on the 57 during the previous year.
Average occupancy of mental health beds in the Western Trust stood at 99.2%.