Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for her question. The Government has invested significantly in University Hospital Limerick. Since the start of 2020, staffing at the hospital has grown by more than 1,200, an increase greater than 40%, and more than 100 beds have been opened on the site. The Minister, Deputy Donnelly, is also keenly aware of the increasing demands nationally on our emergency departments and UHL has not escaped this trend, with a 10% increase in attendances from January to May 2024 compared with same period last year. While a breakdown of data on reasons for attendance is not available, a proportion of those attendances will be for mental health.

Key service enhancements under way in mental health services in the mid-west will reduce the need for ED presentations for mental health reasons. These include an additional CAMHS team for the region, and a CAMHS hub, which is a consultant-led multidisciplinary support that is an alternative model to providing inpatient care, with treatment at home or in a day hospital. One of these is already operational in the west and it works very well. Supporting people with enduring mental health conditions in a day hospital means they can go home every evening, sleep in their own bed and have the support of their community and family. For those experiencing addiction or homelessness, key new services include a dual diagnosis team, commencing next month, to treat people who have a mental health diagnosis and experience addiction.

The Minister, Deputy Donnelly, visited UHL again in early April and met with senior management, doctors and nurses. He announced a package of actions to alleviate the pressures at UHL and to support staff in implementing reforms to work practices to better suit patients.

In that region we will also shortly open a solace café or a kind of crisis café, which we have done in Cork and in Galway. We know from figures received that it reduces the number of people who need an intervention and they do not have to attend the emergency department.

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