Ministry of Health and Médecins Du Monde- France (MDM-F) launched the National Mental Health Referral System
Ramallah – Thursday Dec. 17th, 2015, Ministry of Health and MdM-F had launched the Mental Health National Referral System in Ramallah. The launching was with participation of Ministry of Social Affairs, Ministry of Education and Higher Education, UNRWA and representatives of national and international organizations working in mental health sector.
The national referral system is a crucial part of the mental health system. It constitutes a pillar of any effective international mental health system. Effective mental health system requires accurate coordination and clear techniques to ensure that the client receives optimal service throughout the therapeutic course, taking into consideration the beneficiary’s movement from one facility to another. Close coordination among these facilities is significantly important in order that each of them would be aware of the services provided by the other parties. In light of that, the special national referral system was put in place, and it includes two referral forms.
The national referral system helps promote and coordinate mental health services. Also, it helps to standardize the tools and the professional language among mental health service providers. In addition, it helps to build strong relationships among the different levels of mental health care. Such mechanisms have positive impact on the quality of the mental health services provided for the beneficiaries. The aim of the national referral system is to facilitate the evaluation, the diagnosis, the treatment and the referral processes in order to monitor the other services through referring the client again to have integral service.
The Ministry of Health was MDM’s strategic partner for several years, in line with the National Plan for Mental Health- Mental Health Unit- Ministry of Health, MDM implemented the program of reinforcing the mental health services for children, adolescents and their families in Nablus Governorate, this program included mental health integration to PHC services, in addition to community awareness activities, as well as working on unifying and producing the National Mental Health Referral System. Unifying the protocol of the National Referral System was one of the important challenges in the programs that MDM implemented since 2010, in 2015 the referral system arrived to its final version being adopted and generalized as a National Mental Health Referral System. The System was piloted within two phases in Nablus and Salfit Governorates, with the participation of Hebron Governorate in the last pilot phase. The first pilot phase was in 2010-2011, within this phase all documents related to referral protocols and forms were gathered from the mental health service providers in Nablus. The piloted referral system was evaluated by the end of this phase taking into consideration the strength, weakness and recommendations that could enrich the system.
MDM started the final phase of producing the National Mental Health Referral System since the beginning of the program “ reinforcing the mental health services for children, adolescents and their families in Nablus Governorate” in 2013. The Ministries, local and international organizations working in Mental Health had a major role in the improvement of the system, throughout the active participation of their technical and administrative staff in all the phases of the system creation.