Call for round the clock acute mental health service in Louth

There is an urgent need to provide a round the clock acute mental health service in County Louth so that people are not relying on hospital emergency departments "in order to save lives" and better pathways are identified to the necessary services, local Sinn Féin TD Ruairí Ó Murchú has said.

The Louth TD was speaking after the publication of a new report by the Mental Health Commission, which found significant variations in the services provided at hospital emergency departments. The Commission said there is a need to improve the provision of acute mental health services at ED, with greater access to enhanced care, especially for those presenting after 5pm.

Deputy Ó Murchú said the report "would unfortunately come as no surprise to many families in Dundalk", who had, he said, "experienced huge difficulties in accessing acute mental health services at the Lourdes in times of crisis". He said there was "a confluence of factors" in this area that has led to the "hugely problematic" situation whereby people in mental health crisis "have few places to turn".

He said these factors included a lack of places at the Drogheda Department of Psychiatry at Crosslanes, long waiting times for GP appointments and at Ladywell when referrals are made and "the ongoing crisis" at the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in North Louth.

Deputy Ó Murchú said: "The Mental Health Commission’s report will unfortunately not come as a shock to many families in Dundalk, some of whom have direct experience of trying to get help for their loved ones through the ED at the Lourdes. Unfortunately, some of these families have experienced huge tragedy as a result of their loved ones not getting the care they needed when they needed it.

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"The current system, where GP appointments are really hard to get in Dundalk, where young people with mental health difficulties are ping-ponged between different services and where there are insufficient places at Crosslanes means that people are trying to get help at an ED that is ill-equipped to deal with them.

"There needs to be faster and more appropriate assessment at the Lourdes so that those who need the service provided at the Drogheda Department of Psychiatry at Crosslanes are identified and sent there without delay. At the moment, many people are being sent to from the Lourdes Crosslanes for proper assessment and end up waiting for hours as it is an operating mental health hospital.

"If mental health services were properly funded and resourced, the number of people presenting to EDs would dramatically decrease. Proper investment in early intervention and prevention is critical and can be life saving."

Deputy Ó Murchú added: "Sinn Féin, though our 5-Year Mental Health Plan, have shown how we would transform the delivery of mental health services across the country through a combination of 24/7, community-based multidisciplinary services to provide rapid assessment and varying degrees of support to people who are in a mental health crisis, develop universal access to community-based therapies, counselling and support, alongside addressing the crisis in emergency, urgent and acute services including access to Crisis Resolution Teams and Crisis Cafés within the community’.