RFP seeks consultants to create case for mental health facility
Cayman Islands Premier Alden McLaughlin in LA (Photo by
Dennie Warren Jr)
(CNS): Government has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to find a consultant to do the outline business case for a local mental health facility, the premier has said. With more than 4,000 mental health patients treated by the Health Services Authority last year, the strategic outline case for the much-needed specialist hospital has already been approved by Cabinet, Alden McLaughlin told the members of the Legislative Assembly last week as he presented the 2014 annual report from the Mental Health Commission.
In his role as health minister, he said the RFP exercise should be completed by September or October and takes government one step closer to the development of a long-term mental healthcare facility.
McLaughlin said the creation of the Mental Health Commission was a first for Cayman and in order to mitigate many of the current problems in Cayman society, “we must facilitate early recognition and treatment of common mental illnesses by enhancing access to mental healthcare through an integrated approach”.
The minister said while there was room for improvement in local mental healthcare services, Cayman was making strides, having created mental health legislation that was compatible with international human rights standards. Commending the commission for its work, he said government was now moving towards addressing the need for long-term care for chronically ill mental health patients.
As he presented the report to parliament, he said there were plans for a meeting with PAHO later this year to start work on a national mental health policy.
The report revealed that 31 patients were detained under the Mental Health Commission Law between April and December for various reasons and treated as both inpatients and outpatients. None of them appealed their detention, officials said.
Mental Health Commission Annual Report 2014
Strategic Outline Case for Long-Term Residential Mental Health Facility
Category: Health, Mental Health
Why is it that the CIG has to hire consultants to do all their brain work like creating Business cases, aren’t they supposed to be or have qualified people on staff to do these thing instead of spending up all the public money to pay someone else to do the jobs we pay them to do..
All the PPM has done since taking office is high consultant after consultant are they capable of thinking on their own.
I hope that the current government will provide full disclosure and transparency on all outsourced contacts awarded to the private clinical entities; who as we know will stand to largely benefit from this operation.
Just so you know – Mac isn’t Premier any more!
I know of one poor man that swears he had invisible armed bodyguards who accepted payment in teapots while protecting him in casinos across the United States. Is there nothing that can be done for him? He exhibits extreme bouts of paranoia too, almost on a daily basis.
CNS comment of the day!! LMAO!!!
You know, I can’t help drawing a connection between this and the piece above regarding the auditor general’s trials and tribulations with a certain former premier.
Yea… We sure got a lot of crazy people in Cayman…
Deadline for proposals in response to that RFP was August 10th, It was issued back in July
More money spending and no results will be forth coming. smh
This is a complete swing of the pendulum from one extreme to the next. Before, there was a complete lack of process and Government rushed into every project without much thought or planning. Now, before they even scratch their bahinds, they have to do a business case and pay some big 4 firm hundreds of thousands of dollars.
If the end result wasn’t already determined, one could say its money well spent, however, in the case of the Mental Health facility, the Government has already decided they are going to build one, why spend months and hundreds of thousands of dollars for a consultant to tell you it is okay? SMH
Not sure if many people are aware of this but there are certain private therapy service providers (for profit companies) directly associated/linked with a certain non-for-profit organization (hint… Foundation) catering to special needs and mental health issues on this island. I think there has always been a conflict of interest here. If government decides to go ahead with this plan, let’s make sure that the public taxpayers money are not going to be covertly funneled through to these private enterprises.
Bout damn time! That poor feller that goes around GT all day touching every single car he passes needs a home and needs proper treatment! It is so sad to see these people lost on the streets with no-one to care for them. Thank you for finally waking up to reality Mr. Premier; just ensure it is a proper mental health facility with proper staffing and systems in place to ensure efficiency and accountability for ALL.
As does the idiot in BT who goes around swearing, threatening, cursing and causing fights with people, and stealing their stuff – even from people who help him. He’s dangerous and should be locked up for sure, but seemingly the police would rather lock up the people he attacks.
If it is the guy I am thinking of that walks the streets in BT, with hair ties and usually exposing certain body parts; he has Schizophrenia and unfortunately because of that is very misunderstood. With mental people you really cannot approach them on the street if they do not know you personally for years, it will not end well. They are some what threatened by us and ironically we naturally feel threatened by them. So, I hope this facility comes soon as it is long over-due.