Irish Penal Reform Trust

Irish Medical Times: Key to prison mental healthcare

2nd July 2010

Dara Gantly, writing in the Irish Medical Times, highlights the difficulties of locating mentally ill offenders in our prisons and reports on the successes of the co-operative project of diversion being run by Cloverhill Prison and the Central Mental Hospital (PICLS).

The scheme, which seeks to divert mentally ill persons away from custodial sentences to more appropriate treatment was recently the recipient of an honour at the Irish Healthcare Awards, being recognised in the Best Hospital Project category.

Figures show that males in the Irish prison system have a rate of psychotic symptoms at 10 times the average population rate: the imprisonment of mentally ill people can exacerbate existing problems, leave them at risk and also pose a risk to other inmates and officers.

Read the Irish Medical Times article here.

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