The Regional Secretary for Health presented in Angra do Heroísmo the general provision of the draft Legislative Decree establishing the Regional Network of Mental Health Continuing Care (RRCCISM). The document was sent today to the Legislative Assembly.
 
Luís Cabral stressed that this is a "very important" document, noting that it will "change the paradigm on the monitoring of mental health patients" in the Azores.
 
According to the Regional Secretary for Health, this legislative proposal follows the work developed in coordination with the Regional Commission for the Monitoring and Evaluation of Mental Health Services. This body is composed of members with specialty in Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, namely in the areas of reference.
 
"This is a commitment made by the Government, through the action plan for the restructuring of the Regional Health Service, to trade the concept of contracting inpatient beds for the concept of promoting the integration of mental health patients in society," said the government official.
 
"This will create short, medium and long-term inpatient units, residential units, socio-occupational units and home support mental health teams," said the Regional Secretary.
 
Similarly to what happens with the Regional Network of Continuing Care, there will be a permanent coordination team that will be "in charge of managing admissions and discharges as well as of defining the need for partnerships in each service."
 
According to Luís Cabral, the new legislation aims "to differentiate the type of support and the appropriate funding, going from an inpatient model to an outpatient model, and to invest in rehabilitation instead of maintenance, providing patients with the opportunity of integration in the community."
 
Moreover, it also aims "to decentralise care for the islands without hospital, namely with regard to independent residences, thus allowing a better integration of patients in their communities and standardise the services of addictive behaviours and addictions."
 
"This is an important step the Government intends to take during this term so that the necessary negotiations may take with social partners towards the full implementation of a proximity network in 2017," said the Regional Secretary for Health.