This article first appeared on Galway Bay FM
A report on mental healthcare in hospital emergency departments has identified serious challenges at UHG and Portiuncula.
The problem’s not unique to Galway’s public hospitals – with the Mental Health Commission saying there are major differences in the level of care depending on where you live.
Mental health presentations to the emergency department at UHG aren’t classified by the IT system.
But the Consultation Liaison Psychiatry – or CLP team – estimated that in 2023, a more than 1,900 emergency department patients were referred to them.
A further 851 were referred onwards to other services.
The report notes that access to the CLP team at UHG is limited, and so emergency department staff are dependent on an out-of-hours service.
It further notes patients with mental health difficulties requiring admission wait for prolonged times in the emergency department.
Bed capacity is also described as “challenged” in the acute adult mental health unit.
This report comes as a petition demanding reform on mental health admission protocol at UHG has gathered almost 15 thousand signatures.
That was set up after city man Adam Loughnane took his own life after presenting to staff at the ED with suicidal ideation but later leaving after being triaged and told to wait.
Meanwhile, at Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe, the report notes significant delays with mental health patients referred for admission to an acute psychiatry bed.
Some may wait in the emergency department on a trolley from several hours to seven days in some cases.
Unlike UHG, the much smaller Portiuncula doesn’t have a dedicated mental health unit, and 24/7 cover is provided by Roscommon University Hospital.
Overall, on a national basis, the report found that mental health provision in emergency departments is critically unbalanced.
It concludes that without greater governance and resources, it will be difficult to achieve the standards laid out in national plans like Sláintecare and Sharing The Vision.
