Decade of broken promises on 24/7 emergency mental health care. Public investment in Out of Hours Mental Health Services desperately needed.
Decade of broken promises on 24/7 emergency mental health care. Public investment in Out of Hours Mental Health Services desperately needed. - The Labour Party
- Dedicated out of hour pathways needed in acute hospitals and in the community.
- Mental health’s share of total health spending at 6% has barely budged in a decade. Early intervention and public services essential.
- Funded programme needed to address identified failings.
Responding to the publication of a new report from the Mental Health Commission, Labour spokesperson Marie Sherlock TD, said today’s report paints a stark picture of inconsistent and patchy mental health crisis care across our acute hospitals and in the community.
Children and adults are being failed horribly by the absence of dedicated pathways in place on a 24/7 basis.
Deputy Sherlock said:
“It is appalling that any child or indeed any adult in crisis should be left waiting for days on a trolley in an overcrowded and understaffed Emergency department without access to the appropriate healthcare professional they need.
“The commitments to 24/7 pathways to appropriate mental health crisis care are almost a decade old. The failure to ensure a comprehensive system of these in place confirms mental’s health place as the Cinderella of the health system.
“With the Mental Health Commission report showing over 50,000 people seeking acute mental health care through emergency departments, dedicated out of hours pathways are desperately needed to provide people in crisis with access to the services they need. The absence of these pathways has had a terrible impact on patients and their families, sometimes with devastating consequences.
“The report from the Inspector today must be a wake-up call for the Minister and the HSE on the level of unmet need for mental health care, the lack of local services, and the care so many cannot access.
“There are measures that can be taken now to address this such as dedicated rooms and the recruitment of mental health nurses for EDs. The Minister must tell us what will change so children are not waiting for days on a trolley.
“The level of funding for mental health services is simply too low, at just over 6%, far off the 10% that was promised by 2024.
“There has been a negligible increase in mental health’s share of total health spending since 2016 and we have concerns now that a chunk of that spending is going to privately contracted services.
“Earlier this week, we published responses to parliamentary questions which showed that €93 million was spent last year on outsourcing mental health care to private providers, rather than building up public services.
“Providing dedicated care pathways in both our acute hospitals and in the community will ensure people get the assistance they need, when they need it, and close to where they live. Addressing this will also importantly reduce overcrowding in our Emergency Departments and pressure on other frontline staff. The Minister must now put in place a funded programme of action to address these care failings.”