Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The third item is one in which Deputy Michael D'Arcy wishes to address the establishment of an acute admissions unit in County Wexford.

Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

It should read acute psychiatric admissions unit in County Wexford. A number of years ago, all Members of the Oireachtas agreed to A Vision for Change. Wexford was the first county to do so. It was the first county to support the closure of what was then the old Victorian St. Senan's institution because we wanted to move away from the old way that people in psychiatric services were dealt with. We believed at that stage that it was the right thing to do. It was the right thing to do but a number of years later, there is an enormous deficit in the plan because there is no acute psychiatric admission service in County Wexford.

If there is a psychiatric admission, the patient goes to Wexford General Hospital. Subsequently, depending on where the patient is from in the county, he or she is transferred to Waterford or to Newcastle Hospital in County Wicklow. People in difficult circumstances or dire straits are moved from Wexford General Hospital to somewhere else. This is not good enough. There is a lacuna in the service and it must be addressed. I am keen to hear the views of the Minister of State and those of the Department. This cannot be allowed to continue.

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy D'Arcy for putting down this Topical Issue. I am taking it on behalf of the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy McEntee.

The current programme for Government continues to prioritise the development of our mental health services by fully implementing the policy of A Vision for Change. Since 2012, the mental health budget has increased from €711 million to €826 million. In 2017, an additional €24.7 million will be given to mental health services, thus bringing the HSE budget for this key care programme to €851 million. Broadly speaking, this represents an increase of €140 million, or 20%, over the period. It reflects real progress against a continuing overall background of limited resources and competing demands.

Waterford and Wexford mental health services cater for a population of approximately 278,000. The extended catchment and geographic area stretches from Gorey in north Wexford to Youghal in County Cork. Mental health services in Wexford are arranged in accordance with A Vision for Change. In addition to emergency hospital care and community-based services, the HSE has a comprehensive range of services available to people in Wexford in respect of mental health, suicide prevention and substance misuse.

Following a closure order in 2010 from the Mental Health Commission, the acute mental health unit in St. Senan's Hospital in Enniscorthy was amalgamated with Waterford mental health services. The service is now provided at a 44-bed acute inpatient unit in University Hospital Waterford. It is not planned by the HSE to use St. Senan's Hospital in Enniscorthy, County Wexford, for any future provision of mental health services. In addition, arrangements are in place whereby service users in north Wexford who attend Tara House mental health services in Gorey and who require acute inpatient admission have access to five beds in Newcastle Hospital in Greystones, County Wicklow. To support the amalgamation of acute mental health services, a comprehensive €18 million capital investment programme was implemented, with the main developments taking place in County Wexford. These includes additional bed provision or enhancement of facilities such as those in Tara House, Gorey, Tús Nua, Heavenview and Miliview in Enniscorthy and the Farnogue psychiatry-of-old-age care and Summerhill community mental health units in County Wexford.

The suicide crisis assessment nurse, SCAN, service in Wexford is a skilled mental health nursing service for primary care. The service provides an accessible and quick response to GP requests for timely assessments of those in suicide and self-harm distress. The emergency department at Wexford General Hospital has a seven-day liaison nurse-led service. In addition, and in line with catchment area criteria recommended in A Vision for Change, a new purpose-built ten-bed crisis respite unit has been opened in Enniscorthy.

Many of the services I have outlined, as well as others in the area, operate a seven-day service with significant opening hours. I am satisfied that the significant and comprehensive service developments, which have taken place or are currently planned for the Waterford and Wexford mental health service area as a whole, will ensure that the provision of quality and patient-focused mental health care across the region continues. In light of this, the HSE has no plans at present to provide the type of service suggested by the Deputy.

Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I am not going to beat up the Minister of State on account of his response. I call on the Ceann Comhairle to provide for another response on this issue. The last line in the response read out to me is the only part of the response that relates to the question I asked. The Minister of State said, "In light of this, the HSE has no plans at present to provide the type of service suggested by the Deputy." That is simply not good enough.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

In accordance with the provisions of Standing Orders, if the Deputy wishes to make a formal written submission to me, I will take up the matter.

Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I will do that. I am altogether aggrieved. The reason I feel aggrieved is because at the time when A Vision for Changed was launched, Oireachtas Members from County Wexford were prepared to take a leap of faith on the policy. What has happened instead is that our county, one of the largest in the country, now has no acute psychiatric admission unit.

I have no wish for St. Senan’s Hospital to reopen under any circumstances. What is being requested - and what has been requested for some time - is the establishment of a six-bed acute psychiatric admission unit somewhere in the county. Most likely, it would be attached to Wexford General Hospital. That is what I am looking for and that is what is required for such a large county. God knows, we have had too many occasions when too many terrible circumstances have arisen when people have taken their own lives. If there was a properly-funded acute admissions service, people's lives could be saved. That is what I am about and that was what I committed to at the last general election. I am surprised that there is nothing in the HSE plans to implement what I am suggesting, that is to say, a six-bed unit somewhere in the county.

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I certainly understand the passion of Deputy D'Arcy in respect of this topic and the importance of mental health provision in County Wexford. Certainly, I will undertake to go back to the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, with the concerns raised by Deputy D'Arcy. I imagine she would be happy to sit down with him and whatever advocacy group that accompanies him to discuss the matter. I will do that. A six-bed acute admission facility is the request from Deputy D'Arcy. While there have been substantial increases in the budget, perhaps they have not been reflected in the additional resources requires in the case of Wexford, notwithstanding the extra provision which I have set out in the response from the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee. Certainly, I will go back to her with the concerns raised by Deputy D'Arcy. I imagine she will be happy to sit down with him to further tease out the issues to which he refers. Perhaps she will bring the relevant HSE officials to that meeting as well.