Professor Anthony McCarthy:

That is part of the overall mental health assessment. Whether it is a psychologist, psychiatrist, psychiatric nurse or any mental health professional, it is part of our job to do that and, obviously, to take it further than that.

We spoke about facilities and having one office available for eight people. When we see somebody for the first time, it is for one hour. A new appointment is for one hour but a lot comes out in an hour if we engage and connect with the person as, I hope, we do in most cases. Everything comes out. Again, one of the lovely parts, and privileges, of this job is that it is often a time in women’s lives when they are likely to be more open. They are concerned and worried. If they are drinking or suicidal and having those thoughts or intentions, it is probably a more likely time in their lives to say than other times are. However, that is not always the case, of course. Most of the time, trying to confine it to the hour is the difficulty, rather than things being hidden, truthfully. Part of our skills is to be able to check if someone is depressed, has any suicidal thoughts - who has not had them at times - suicidal intentions, specific plans and what would stop them. It is working on that or whatever the issue is. It is trying to open that up. Hopefully, with the ongoing training they get, our teams are good at listening and providing the space in which that issue comes up. At the end of the day, most people who are feeling like that want to talk about. They just want to know this is a safe place.