Minister says we need faster responses for people presenting to ED with mental health crisis

The Journal

2 days ago

'WE NEED FASTER and better coordinated responses' for people when they present to emergency departments with a mental health crisis, according to Minister for Mental Health Mary Butler who yesterday launched the new national model of care for 'Consultation Liaison Psychiatry services' in Irish hospitals.
Liaison psychiatrists provides specialist mental health input in emergency departments and general hospital wards when someone presents with a mental health crisis.
While it is understood to play a critical role in supporting people who present with eating disorders, self-harm and suicidal ideation, there have been widespread criticisms this year of serious gaps of services across the country.
Criticisms of current care of patients
The Mental Health Commission published a report last month
warning of substantial delays, especially for 'out-of-hours' mental health assessments.
It found that around 51,000 people attend emergency departments and medical wards in Ireland each year with a first-time acute mental health issue.
The report found that people with mental health presentations have to 'compete for attention in the crowded emergency department space'.
The report came after the brother of a man who died by suicide the same day he presented himself to an emergency department described the government's new mental
health implementation plan as a 'failure'
.
Joe's brother, Adam Loughnane (34) died by suicide in February
– earlier in the day he had presented himself to hospital expressing suicidal ideation.
Joe Loughnane told
The Journal
that he believes there should be a separate general admission unit for those experiencing a mental health emergency and that they shouldn't have to go through emergency departments at all.
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One of the government's priorities is providing appropriate environments in all emergency departments for people who require a mental health assessment.
Eight hospitals currently lack a mental health assessment room and within emergency departments that are open 24/7, some 30% do not comply with current standards.
'Same urgency as those presenting with physical illness'
Speaking at the launch yesterday, Minister Butler said the launch of the new model of care is an important milestone in the national mental health reform journey.
'It ensures people who need mental health support while in hospital are treated with the same urgency, dignity and clinical excellence as those presenting with physical illness. It is a practical and meaningful expression of the health service's commitment to integrated person-centred care in line with the goals of our national mental health policy Sharing the Vision,' she said.
She said the liaison psychiatry staff provide an essential service to people who have complex and often emergency care needs, working without waiting lists and without barriers to serve the patients who need them.
To develop the model of care for liaison psychiatry, a national scoping exercise was undertaken to map out the liaison mental health services available across Ireland.
While the findings demonstrated 'significant provision and resourcing across sites' the department said it also highlighted 'key gaps in relation to staffing, administration support, and data infrastructure' and underlined the need for a national, standardised model.
The minister said a phased implementation approach will now be developed by the HSE, aligned with service readiness and workforce planning, to support a sustainable and coordinated roll-out of the model of care
'These services represent some of the busiest and most high-risk areas within mental health, and I am currently working hard to develop real alternatives to emergency departments for people in mental health crisis.
'However, we know that the EDs will always have some level of mental health presentations, and we need faster and better coordinated responses for people when they do present. This model of care is a key part of our drive to improve the ED experience for people presenting with a mental health crisis,' she said.
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