Attacks on staff working in Galway’s new mental health unit exploded in the first two years it opened.

The Galway City Tribune has learned that more than 1,000 incidents of violence and aggression were recorded by the Health Service Executive at its Adult Acute Mental Health Unit (AAMHU) at University Hospital Galway over five years.

The HSE was so concerned, it has introduced a new initiative to reduce conflict at the Unit.

The official count of 1,071 incidents of verbal and physical attacks on staff at the Psychiatric Unit relate to the six years from 2016 to 2021.

A detailed breakdown of the incidents officially termed ‘Work Related Violence and Aggression’ reveals a spike in assaults in 2018 and 2019 when the new mental health unit opened at a cost of €20 million.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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