Ballinasloe suicides highlight need for investment in CAMHS – Galway Councillor
Mental health services available to the people of Ballinasloe have ‘gone backwards’ since St Brigid’s Hospital was wound down, the HSE West North West Health Forum was told.
Ballinasloe-based Galway County Councillor Alan Harney (FG) told the latest Forum meeting that two young people in East Galway died by suicide in recent weeks.
He said there was a need for investment in mental health services – in particular CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) – in Ballinasloe.
Since St Brigid’s Hospital was wound down in recent years he said the services available to people in the area had gone backwards.
Councillor Harney said it was not good enough that the CAMHS services for people liveing in Ballinasloe was provided by the Roscommon/East Galway CAMHS Community Mental Health Team (CMHT), which is based in Roscommon.
Ann Cosgrove, HSE manager in Galway Roscommon, said there has been an increase in demand for CAMHS services.
She said the HSE “hope to establish a locally based service in Ballinasloe” but “we currently lack the resources to provide such services in the area and we do not have a timeframe for such a development”.
Councillor Harney requested the number of people in Ballinasloe waiting for CAMHS services but it was not available.