Many people who could live in the community are languishing in psychiatric institutions, Schizophrenia Ireland has said.
This is because only 612 places have been created for mental health patients leaving psychiatric hospitals in the past 10 years, it complains.
Last year 2,993 places were available in the community compared with 2,382 in 1991. "This rate of development is inadequate," it says.
A national review of mental health services should now be undertaken and the Department of Health and Children should arrange for such a review, it says in a comment on the recently published report of the Inspector of Mental Hospitals.
Little regard is given to the report by policy-makers, it complains, and says: "Much of the content of the Inspector's report remains unchanged from previous years."
In its statement, Schizophrenia Ireland echoes the Inspector, Dr Dermot Walsh, in expressing concern about an over-reliance of drugs in the treatment of people with mental illnesses.
"In the majority of cases the only treatment option offered to people with severe mental disorder is the prescription of drugs," it says.
"Of course, drugs are often central to the recovery process but they are by no means the only tool," the organisation says.
"There is a multitude of research which shows that sustained recovery is based not only on effective drug treatment but on the availability of a range of allied interventions such as behavioural therapy, counselling, psychotherapy and other psychological treatments."
A shortage of mental health services in the community means people are not getting treatment until their illness has reached an advanced stage, Schizophrenia Ireland says.
"Approximately 10 per cent of all admissions are involuntary which is very high by European standards, which average 5 per cent.
"There are many reasons why Ireland's involuntary admission rate remains so high, but one key contributor is the lack of appropriate community-based services that can intervene at an early stage to support the person."
And when people go to hospital, "the lack of a nursing care plan in many hospitals and acute units means that there are no goals or targets set in terms of recovery for someone with a diagnosis of mental illness," said Mr John Saunders, who is director of Schizophrenia Ireland.
pomorain@irish-times.ie
www.schizophreniaireland.ie