Women are generally more likely to be prescribed drug treatment by GPs while men are more likely to be referred for specialist treatment, according to a report from the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) on mental health.

The Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health (FIH) has expressed support for the announcement made by Northern Ireland Health Minister Paul Goggins that plans are underway to offer patients access to complementary and alternative medicines through GPs and local Health Boards. The announcement, delivered during Mr Goggin’s speech at a CAM health conference in Belfast, also included plans to introduce FIH’s Integrated Health Associates scheme and Awards for Good Practice in Integrated Health across the country.

A unique £9.3 million one-stop health care shop opened today in Northern Ireland. The Belfast-based Bradbury Centre is one of 40 planned Ulster centres which health chiefs are hoping will alleviate the province’s record-high outpatients’ waiting lists.
Located on the lower Lisburn Road, the new centre brings together a whole range of health and community care facilities, under one roof for the first time.

The government has withdrawn funding from the Belfast-based Rape Crisis Centre. However, the Department of Health said funding for services to victims of rape and sexual violence would continue. It said the £60,000 previously given to the centre will now be given to the health boards.

The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety has announced that it will no longer provide funding for the Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre (RC&SAC). However, it has said that it will continue to provide funding for services to victims of rape and sexual violence and will ensure that this money is directed into quality services.

The Mental Health Commission is now faced with another problem if it wants to begin operating mental health tribunals on the target date of 1 November. The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has advised consultant psychiatrists not to sign a contract with the Commission to provide independent medical examinations of involuntary patients. Mr Fintan Hourihan, Director of Industrial Relations with the IMO, said the contracts are inferior to the consultant common contract.

A high risk convicted sex offender who poses a serious threat to children is on the run in Northern Ireland. The PSNI have taken the unusual step of warning the public about 35-year-old Paul Hunter Redpath. They said he should not be approached as he poses a serious threat to vulnerable children and young people.

A long running dispute between two families in west Belfast has led to 600 separate incidents ranging from threats to kill to murder, police have said.  In the latest incident, an unoccupied house was set on fire. Earlier, petrol bombs were thrown through the conservatory window of the house at Dermott Hill Park in Ballymurphy at about 0330 BST.

Firefighters have rescued 18 elderly residents, including a 104-year-old, from at a nursing home near Portadown. The blaze broke out in the kitchen of the Rathowen Nursing Home at about 2245 BST. Firefighter Walter Johnston said most of the residents were still in bed when they arrived to discover a “fairly extensive” fire.

Social Services Minister, Paul Goggins, has launched a strategy to boost training throughout the social services workforce and improve safety. Under the Personal Social Services Development and Training Strategy, all staff, for the first time, will have to undertake training regularly, to maintain their registration with the Northern Ireland Social Care Council. The Council will then be able to monitor that they are practising safely. The Strategy ensures that people will be supported, through comprehensive training, to maintain those high standards of service.