The Regional Secretary for Health stressed in Horta the "significance" of the creation of the Regional Network of Mental Health Continuing Care (RRCCISM), approved today at the Legislative Assembly, noting that it will "change the paradigm in the follow-up of mental health patients in the Azores."
 
Luís Cabral said the creation of this network aims to "follow-up o patients with the rigour and quality required for their condition, being in line with scientific evidence in this area."
 
According to the Secretary for Health, RRCCISM is a project that aims to "enhance networking, based on knowledge and practice of multidisciplinary teams."
 
The Regional Network of Mental Health Continuing Care represents a commitment made under the Action Plan for the Restructuring of the Regional health Service. It aims to "transform the concept of contracting inpatient beds into the concept of promoting the integration of mental health patients in society," said the government official.
 
The legislative initiative adopted today at the Regional Parliament 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.
 
Currently, there are 13 psychiatrists in the Azores and 41 nurses with specialisation in mental health.
 
"The aim is to 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."
 
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," said Luís Cabral.
 
"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.