Ogun State House of Assembly today passed a resolution requesting the need to integrate mental health services into general hospital facilities for an holistic healthcare delivery.

The sponsor, Hon. Damilare Bello moved the motion for the opening of debate on the resolution titled: “HR. No. 087/OG/ 2024- Need to integrate mental health services into general hospital facilities for an holistic healthcare delivery”, which was seconded by Hon. Bisi Oyedele and supported by the Whole House through a voiced vote.

Opening debate on the resolution, the sponsor, Hon. Bello, noted that there was an increasing rate of individuals facing mental health challenges, who were often left without specialized services, roaming the streets with little or no assistance.

He said that there was a need to have facilities to take care of the increased number of people suffering from mental health issues to have easy access to mental health services alongside physical healthcare, without the need for separate appointments or facilities.

According to him, “all services can and should be delivered within the same hospital”.

He underscored the need for enhanced coordination and communication between medical and mental health care providers, for more comprehensive patient care, especially when dealing with the biological complications of mental disorders.

“It is worthy of note that the increasing stigma associated with mental health has caused more trauma for the relatives of affected patients. Additionally, note the enormous resources and infrastructure needed for psychiatric care services.

Accordingly, it is proposed that this Honourable House, in the interest of the wellbeing of the people, recommend to the State Government, through the Ministry of Health, to ensure that patients have easy access to mental health services, alongside physical health care without the need for separate appointments or facilities. All services can be delivered in the same hospital”, he said.

He stated the need for better coordination and communication between medical and mental health care providers for more comprehensive patient care, especially when dealing with the biological complications of mental disorders.

He posited that integrated health care had been shown to improve patient outcome, satisfaction and overall quality of care, leading to better health indexes in the community.

He clarified that the implementation process should include additional training for hospital staff to effectively identify and address mental health needs in patients as well as linkage training of some medical staff to perform limited psychiatric services through training and strict supervision.

Contributing to the debate leading to the passage of the resolution, Honourables Adegoke Adeyanju, Bisi Oyedele, Wahab Haruna, Dickson Awolaja and the Minority Leader Lukman Adeleye submitted that the integrated mental health services would give easy access to psychiatric patients and help reduce the issues of mental health amongst the populace.

The Assembly Majority Leader, Hon. Yusuf Sheriff later moved for the conversion of the motion to the resolution of the House, seconded by the Minority Leader Lukman Adeleye and supported by the Whole House.