National Standards for Mental Health Services

The Mental Health Commission published the Quality Framework for Mental Health Services in Ireland in 2007. The Quality Framework presents the national standards for all mental health services in Ireland.

The themes, standards and criteria contained in the quality framework provide clear guidance for service users, their families/chosen advocates, service providers and the public as to what to expect from a mental health service. The quality framework is applicable to all mental health services including services for children and adolescents, adults, older persons, persons with an intellectual disability and a mental illness and forensic mental health services.

It applies equally to all mental health services irrespective of whether they are being delivered within the service user's home, community settings both residential and non-residential, or within in-patient facilities. The quality framework is flexible to allow for the diverse needs of service users as well as the different nature and scale of organisations involved in service delivery.

We produced an audit toolkit to assist staff working in services to measure their performance against the standards in the framework and to put in place quality improvement initiatives and action plans to meet the standards.

Quality Framework for Mental Health Services in Ireland

The Quality Framework for Mental Health Services in Ireland is our response to the stakeholder consultation on quality in mental services entitled Quality in Mental Health - Your Views, which we published in 2005.

Quality in Mental Health - Your Views