More financial support is needed for a Northern Ireland health trust after it emerged there was a surge in the number of hospital admissions under the Mental Health programme.
The report, from NISRA, shows that more than a third of hospital admissions under the programme of care were in the Western Trust area.
In 2021/22, 34.7% (1,596) of a total of 4,593 admissions under the Mental Health programme of care were in Western HSC Trust. Belfast HSC Trust had the lowest percentage of mental health admissions with 13.3% (611) of the total, according to the report.
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SDLP MLA Sinéad McLaughlin the stats should serve as a "wake-up call". She said: "Too many people have been falling through the cracks of our system for too long and the challenges with regards to mental health that already existed in Derry and elsewhere have only been exacerbated over the last number of years.
“We can all talk a good game when it comes to mental health and of course, we need greater awareness of mental health challenges, but the truth is that we need to see long-term, sustainable funding in our services if we are going to tackle this issue.
"That means supporting those people and groups on the ground who are doing fantastic work in the community and also ensuring that the Ten-Year Mental Health Strategy is fully resourced and implemented.
"We must also ensure that no one across the North loses out on equitable access to support so that people are subjected to a postcode lottery of services.”
Meanwhile, CEO of Aware NI, a depression charity, told MyDerry that services in the North West were 'not financially supported to the level they should be'.
Karen Collins said: "We fully support the total funding of the Mental Health Strategy, which would improve mental health services, not only in the Western Trust but across the province.
"We would urge the Executive to reform and make this implementation an immediate priority. Mental health services across Northern Ireland are not financially supported to the level they should be, especially given the high rates of mental illness across the country."
The Western Health and Social Trust has been contacted for comment but had not responded by the time of publication.
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