Prof. Siobhán O’Neill warns Stormont spending committee of 'severe' pressures on mental health services
Prof. Siobhán O’Neill has warned Stormont’s spending committee of 'severe' pressures on mental health services noting bed occupancy rates in the Western Trust rose to 123 per cent at one point last year.
The Derry-based Mental Health Champion told the Public Accounts Committee of significant vacancies within psychiatry and psychology and long waits and full inpatient facilities.
“The pressures are already severe. In March 2025 all of the Trusts had bed occupancy of 100 per cent against a recommended maximum of 85 per cent and the Western Trust reached 123 per cent at one point,” she said.
The Magee-based expert explained how a 2022 mental health workforce review identified a shortfall of 2,267 posts and 730 funded vacancies across the North.
Peripheral areas like the Western Trust , said Prof. O’Neill, need special attention to attract staff.
“There is further concern about rural recruitment and place-based solutions are necessary, particularly for areas such as the Western Trust,” said Prof. O'Neill.
She said the PSNI’s Right Care, Right Person initiative that from November 1 has meant police will not attend all welfare concern calls shows the need for investment.
The workforce deficit within mental health is being felt across the North.
“More than 10,000 people are waiting beyond the target times for mental health services and the number awaiting a first appointment has increased by approximately a third since 2019,” she said.
Prof. O’Neill said increasing training capacity is necessary as hundreds of applications for limited places are lodged annually.
Staff shortfalls, she observed, have led to a psychiatry locum bill of £11m in 2025/26.
"This is equivalent to the cost of 56 substantive posts. We are squandering money here and this is not the right way to be doing things at all,” said Prof. O’Neill.
Gaps in psychiatric support are also generating high anti-depressant prescription rates
“One in five adults, one in four women and 40 per cent of women in the 40 to 65 age group have an anti-depressant prescription,” the committee was told.
Prof. O’Neill said it was important to address why so many people in the North have ‘very poor mental health’.
“It is costing us £3.4bn annually. The costs are often preventable. We need to address childhood adversity, poverty, housing and security and the barriers faced by disabled people,” she said.