The Health Service Executive (HSE) document ‘Planning for Health – Trends and Priorities to inform Health Service Planning 2017’ provides a population focused analysis of current and future needs and demands on the Health Service.

Chapter seven of that document addresses mental health services and examined the demographic changes that are likely to impact on service provision up to 2022. NPIRS data were sourced and used to describe:

  • the leading disorders that people are admitted for,
  • admission rates over the last number of years by age group and how these are changing and likely to change,
  • extent of age-related admissions for conditions such as dementia and
  • health inequalities arising from unemployment and homelessness.

The report also acknowledges the value of collecting an ethic identifier in NPIRS and that this should be extended to all mental health data.

Links to both the full document and Chapter seven on Mental Health are included with this article.