More and more children who have self-harmed are presenting for treatment at the Emergency Department of Portiuncula University Hospital, a new report has confirmed.

And the Mental Health Commission’s (MHC) latest report on access to Emergency Department care highlighted how some patients suffering from mental health problems waited up to a week on trolleys in Ballinasloe ED before they were admitted to an acute psychiatric bed.

The report, titled Acute Mental Healthcare in Hospital Emergency Departments in Ireland, also revealed that mental health patients waited “prolonged periods” in the Emergency Department of University Hospital Galway, because “bed capacity is challenged” in the 50-bed Adult Acute Mental Health Unit on UHG campus at Newcastle.

This national survey from the Office of Inspector of Mental Health Services found that Portiuncula had 446 people presenting with self-harm to its 24-hour ED in 2023.

This was an increase of 12% or 48 more compared with the previous year – and a quarter of the increased presentations, or a dozen, were children under the age of 15 who had self-harmed, MHC said.

PUH ED also dealt with an increase of other mental health related presentations with 552 in total in 2023. “This included a growing number of presentations with substance misuse,” the report said.

MHC’s report said there was no on-site mental health unit in Portiuncula, so Roscommon University Hospital provided 24/7 cover for the acute care of mental health presentations.

Caption: Portiuncula Hospital.

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