MENTAL HEALTH problems cost the economy more than €3 billion in 2006, or 2 per cent of Gross National Product (GNP), a new report has found. Meanwhile, the percentage of health funding spent on mental health services has halved since the 1980s.

Crosscare, the social care agency, is to close a 14-bed night shelter for homeless men in Dublin.

A VACCINATION programme against cervical cancer will be available in schools in Larne Borough next month, according to the Northern Health and Social Care Trust.

Pam Arnsberger, professor and researcher at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa’s School of Social Work, has been awarded a Fulbright Fellowship for Senior Researchers at Queens University in Northern Ireland to study and evaluate outcomes of consumer-based caregiver models of service delivery for the elderly.

SOME 29 homes for elderly people in Northern Ireland have received written warnings from inspectors since 2005.

Two care assistants have spoken to the BBC about what goes on behind closed doors in some old people’s homes in Northern Ireland.

A care home for the elderly in Downpatrick is to be closed, the Health Minister said yesterday.

A CHARITY has warned the HSE it risks another tragedy like the deaths of four members of one family in Monageer, Co Wexford, after it shelved plans for a round-the-clock care service for vulnerable children.

Two Irish children’s charities have expressed their concerns about the HSE’s plans to shelve proposals for a dedicated out of hours social work service, because of budgetary constraints.

A SURVEY published today has revealed that the quality of maternity care, overstretched staffing levels and low pay are the issues that most concern midwives.