Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I was approached by a doctor two weeks ago at home and he pointed out that the lack of a 24-hour acute mental health service in the county is a dramatic problem in Wexford. He pointed out that since the merger of acute services for Waterford and Wexford in Waterford in 2011 many of those in need of help in Wexford have been left with no access to these vital services. He claimed that a person going through a mental health episode needs a referral letter from a GP in order to get an appointment with a psychiatrist. If the person is at risk of self-harm, he or she would be referred to the accident and emergency department at Wexford General Hospital, which is not equipped to deal with psychiatric patients, where they could wait up to 24 hours before seeing a liaison nurse who would then speak to a psychiatrist. From there they could be referred to the accident and emergency department in Waterford where they could again have to spend hours in a queue. Apart from the obvious fact that people are not getting the care they need, and that the need for a person with a mental illness to be seen is often time-sensitive, the person often cannot even get a lift to Waterford. Many family members have contacted me and said that having this unit in Waterford is not quite good enough for the many people in Wexford who are in dire need.

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