The Mental Health Commission (MHC) has called for urgent investment in mental health facilities and more robust legislation to ensure buildings are fit for purpose to meet best practice in terms of infection prevention and control in the event of further surges of Covid-19, or future pandemics.
It has also found that staff were at higher risk of contracting the virus than residents in mental health facilities. The commission has published a second review of the impacts and response to Covid-19 in residential mental health facilities.
John Farrelly, MHC chief executive, said that the weaknesses around premises identified will not come as a surprise to anyone who has been reading its inspection reports over the past number of years.