According to the decree published this Thursday in the Diário da República, the first integrated responsibility centers dedicated to mental health will begin operating in 15 local health institutions, in a first phase as a pilot project and for 10 months.
The pilot project will see the teams restructured to operate under a goal-based incentive regime, as is already the case in the approximately 40 existing Comprehensive Responsibility Centers (RICs).
CRI’s adult mental health teams will be multidisciplinary and will include physicians, nurses, hospital administrators, senior clinical specialists, senior diagnostic and therapeutic specialists, technical assistants and ancillary health professionals.
The decree identifies as pilot projects specialized teams of the local mental health service of the local health units (ULS) of Amadora/Sintra, Arco Ribeirinho, Baixo Alentejo, Braga, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, West Lisbon, Loures Odivelas, Matosinhos and Medio Tagus.
Pilot projects will also be implemented in ULS in the northeast, west, and the regions of Aveiro, Santo António and Tamega e Sousa.
Compliance with the goals defined by each CRI will result in employee wage incentives. In addition to base salary, incentives can be up to 40% of the highest salary in the relevant career.
According to the Ministry of Health, the creation of a mental health CRI “will improve the ability to respond to and manage requests for consultation and monitoring to hospitals in the first months of the pilot projects, strengthening local adult mental health systems.” .
Mental health was one of the areas chosen to launch the new CRI model, and is also one of the investment priorities of the Health Recovery and Resilience (PRR) Plan, which is committing €88 million to strengthen the NHS response in this area. .