A DUBLIN psychiatric hospital is expanding its services around the State with the opening of a range of regional mental health centres over the next five years.
St Patrick's Hospital is establishing the Dean Clinics as part of a five-year strategy which has identified the urgent need for community-based mental health centres.
Two Dean Clinics have been opened in Dublin city in the past year, with a third due to open in Lucan by the end of 2008, followed by up to six more clinics around the State in locations including Cork and Galway.
Evelyn McCarthy, programme manager of the Dean Clinics, St Patrick's Hospital, explained that people travel from all over the State to the hospital to access services and programmes not available elsewhere.
"The idea of the Dean Clinics is to have mental health centres based around the country but not necessarily related to the psychiatric hospitals," she said.
"The team members develop a care plan for and including each patient which addresses their specific needs. The initial assessment takes two hours and if the team feels a patient needs further supportive therapy, this can be carried out in the clinic," she added.
