Poor mental health services in Louth highlighted

Difficulties faced by people in Louth in accessing mental health services, particularly when they are also battling addiction, were highlighted by Dundalk TD Ruairí Ó Murchú during a debate on Sinn Fein sponsored legislation.

The Health (Amendment) (Dual Diagnosis: No Wrong Door) Bill 2021 was introduced by Sinn Féin TDs Mark Ward and Thomas Gould.

Deputy Ó Murchú said:

“‘I remember that Derek Pepper of Shine spoke at an event lately to remember Harry Taaffe, who we lost.

“It was a Dundalk FC event and Harry had done a huge amount of work for them over many years.

“We recall with sadness the loss of Harry.

“I remember something Derek had spoken about previously, which was the fact that we all have within us, within the brain, a hand grenade.

“He said anything can be the trigger that releases this in relation to mental health issues.

“We all know the issues there are with drug addiction, drug abuse and the issues there have always been with alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction, especially in this country.

“These can obviously be the means by which this grenade is released.

“Then it is a case, first of all, that the person is not going to get better unless there is a medical plan and gets the treatment needed.

“Unfortunately, this can for many of them be a recurring problem over many years, so it does not help when we have services that are not trained, not resourced sufficiently and basically turn people away.

“We all know that at times people are brought up to the accident and emergency department in Drogheda and sometimes, depending on whether a doctor does or does not sign a form, they may be brought to Crosslanes, which is the department of psychiatry in the town.

“Then we deal with the dual diagnosis question. There are really no winners with that and we have a huge amount of people with a considerable amount of issues that are never actually dealt with.

“The particular issue that arises when this grenade is released can mean somebody has no right door to go to at that point in time.

“We obviously need to ensure the front-line services are dealt with and that they are sufficiently resourced.

“Beyond that, we must look at how we deal with the issue of hospitals, accident and emergency departments and emergency services.”

He highlighted how figures show how “utterly underrepresented” Louth is when it comes to mental health teams and all the services that are required.

And he welcomed the announcement of the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs which has been set to start work in April.

Deputy Ó Murchú also highlighted the issue of the mental health liaison team at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, which operates during office hours and not beyond that.

He said:

“It is a major failing because as we all know, when we are dealing with issues of psychosis and other such issues, and when gardaí and everyone else are dealing with them it is generally in the evening and night-time hours.

“That is something that has to be addressed. There are probably sufficient resources to put that in place at this point in time and we just need an agreement.

“That obviously involves all the players, including the department of psychiatry, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Hospital Group and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital.”