Séamus Healy (Tipperary, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise mental health services in Tipperary again. My constituency colleagues and I have raised this matter on a number of occasions since the closure of St. Michael's acute psychiatric unit in Clonmel. There are now no inpatient psychiatric beds in north or south Tipperary. Patients in north Tipperary, which was in the old Mid-Western Health Board area, must attend the unit in Ennis while those in south Tipperary, which was in the old South Eastern Health Board area, have to attend the unit in Kilkenny. Both units are overcrowded and substandard and are simply not providing a service for patients from Tipperary. Admissions to the units are being delayed and when patients from Tipperary are admitted they are discharged, inappropriately I believe, ahead of time. There is no consistent follow-up of the patients and it is difficult, if not impossible, for their relatives and friends to support these patients in Kilkenny or Ennis. It is difficult to travel to support family members. Families have been contacting me and other representatives about this issue for some time.

Inpatient psychiatric beds must be provided in Tipperary. We need a seamless service not just in one area but across all areas. There must be a community-based service along with inpatient services. Patients in Tipperary are entitled to a quality service. There has been a significant increase in the number of suicides in the county since the closure of these beds and a number of organisations are demanding that they be reopened. Tipperary's Fight for Mental Health Services has organised many meetings and protests and the Save Our Acute Hospital Services Committee has been in discussions about this with the Minister and the HSE in the south east. It is time a decision is made at the highest level to reopen the beds that were wrongly closed in Clonmel in 2012.

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