RTÉ Radio 1: Interview with Professor Harry Kennedy, Executive Clinical Director of the Central Mental Hospital

Professor Harry Kennedy, Executive Clinical Director of the Central Mental Hospital speaks with Sarah McInerney about Ireland’s attitude to mental illness, policy and the future of the Central Mental Hospital.

You can listen to the full interview on the RTÉ website here.

Professor Kennedy discusses how the Central Mental Hospital will improve on the limited bed supply for adult psychiatric services in Ireland, A Vision for Change and the new mental health policy Sharing the Vision. He also discusses how adults with severe mental illness tend to end up in prisons when there aren’t adequate services for mental illness and enough beds to accommodate them.

The discussion also turned to COVID-19 in the hospital and in prisons compared to other countries like the United States, and the effects of the pandemic on patients, who are missing visits from their family but overall feel safe.

Listen to the full interview here.