Ireland’s mental health services ‘failing people in crisis’, Louth TD warns

Speaking ahead of a Sinn Féin motion on emergency mental health care, Deputy Byrne said tens of thousands of people present to emergency departments each year while experiencing severe mental distress or suicidal ideation.

“People in mental health crisis are being forced into chaotic and overcrowded emergency departments that are simply not designed to meet their needs,” she said.

“This is the result of years of government failure to properly fund and deliver mental health services, both in the community and in acute settings. When vital supports such as crisis teams, therapy services, out-of-hours care and safe crisis spaces are missing, people are left with no option but to turn up at emergency departments.”

Deputy Byrne highlighted what she described as a “postcode lottery” in access to care, noting that 11 counties currently do not have a Suicide Crisis Assessment Nurse (SCAN) service. County Louth has just one SCAN nurse, she said.

She also pointed to infrastructure deficits nationally, stating that eight emergency departments do not have appropriate spaces for mental health crisis assessments.

Focusing on local services, Deputy Byrne said that at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, the Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry team is not available outside certain working hours.

“As a result, out-of-hours acute mental health patients presenting to the Drogheda emergency department are assessed by general ED nursing staff and, depending on urgency, transferred to the Department of Psychiatry for further assessment,” she said.

Deputy Byrne said Sinn Féin’s proposals aim to reform the system rather than “manage its failures”.

“Our Private Members’ Bill is about ensuring that every major hospital has a dedicated mental health emergency room, staffed by specialist professionals and separate from the chaos of general emergency departments,” she said.

The Sinn Féin motion also outlines a longer-term vision for specialist mental health crisis centres and proposes greater use of local hospitals to provide crisis services outside overcrowded major hospitals.

“People who are in distress need a calm and safe environment where they will be seen in a timely manner,” Deputy Byrne said. “The last thing they need is to be left wandering emergency department corridors alone.

“Dedicated mental health emergency rooms save lives.”