Neville raises issue of mental health unit for children and adolescents in Limerick

Fine Gael TD for Limerick and President of the Irish Suicidology Association, Dan Neville has raised the issue of a child and adolescent twenty bed unit planned for Limerick, but which the HSE have decided not to proceed with.

“A Vision for Change, the report of the expert group on mental health recommended that four 20-bed units in Cork, Limerick, Galway and Dublin should be provided as well as multidisciplinary teams for these units. Since then the HSE has decided that no such unit should be built in Limerick. I asked the Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, for information on why this decision was reached.

“Psychiatrists, psychotherapists and general mental health services staff have expressed concern about the unsuitability of minors sharing inpatient psychiatric care with adults. It is seen as potentially detrimental to the recovery of children and adolescents.

“Children in Limerick and the mid-west who are in need of inpatient psychiatric treatment must move to Cork, Galway or Dublin. Children recovering from any condition, especially mental health conditions need their parents to visit them. If a child from the mid-west is placed in Dublin, Cork or Galway, it is extremely difficult for the families.

“I understand that nationally, inpatient child and adolescent bed capacity has increased from 12 beds in 2007 to 58 beds at present. This represents an almost fivefold increase over eight years.

“It is also positive that those who provide child and adolescent mental health services in the mid-west region, which covers Limerick, Clare and north Tipperary, have access to modern state-of-the-art inpatient child and adolescent mental health facilities in Galway and Cork, however I feel that the service in Limerick, as recommended, is still required.

“There is no doubt that significant resources should be directed towards reducing the need for and dependency on inpatient beds. Multidisciplinary interventions for children are much more appropriate to supporting children in their own family settings.

“In some cases however, it is necessary to admit children and young people to hospital and I believe that the recommendation of A Vision for Change are still relevant.

“There has been a considerable improvement in mental health services and ring-fenced funding, totalling €160 million has benefitted people with mental health issues by way of additional posts.

“I asked the Minister to make inquiries on my behalf to see if a national review of psychiatric inpatient beds took place in 2011 in line with the recommendations.”