NORTHERN IRELAND — Professor Siobhan O'Neill released a report on March 6 titled "The Economic Case for a Mental Health Regional Crisis Intervention Service in Northern Ireland." The report recommends establishing a community-based mental health support service similar to Scotland's Distress Brief Intervention programme, which provides up to 14 days of support at an average cost of £392 per person.

Northern Ireland is pursuing the Right Care Right Person model, which shifts responsibility from the police to ambulance services for incidents involving mental distress with no crime or immediate threat to life. "This concern is not theoretical," O'Neill said. "In England, Coroners' Prevention of Future Deaths reports have already raised concerns about RCRP, including cases where police did not attend incidents involving people in acute mental distress and where gaps between policing and health services may have left vulnerable people without an effective emergency response. That should be a serious warning for us all in Northern Ireland."

"Without investment in alternatives there is real risk that RCRP simply removes one part of the emergency response system without creating the safety net people need," O'Neill said. "We cannot remove one part of the system before building another." The report notes that mental health crises cost Northern Ireland more than £45 million each year, while a single emergency department visit costs around £544.

"The real question is not whether we can afford to invest in mental health, it is whether we can afford not to," O'Neill said. "The evidence is there. The economic case is there. What is needed now is the political will to act."