Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I seek a debate on why the HSE seems to be making such a mess of the provision of mental health services in Galway and in the west generally. In County Galway it seems we are in a parallel universe at the moment, where every rational policy gets turned on its head and common sense gets thrown out of the window.

The HSE plans to centralise mental health treatment into a leaking and overcrowded mental health unit with 22 beds in University Hospital Galway in the city. That is fine but we have been promised a new 50-bed unit by the end of 2016. I will believe that when I see it. Meanwhile, instead of waiting for the Galway city unit to be completed, the HSE closed a state-of-the-art mental health facility in St. Brigid's Hospital, Ballinasloe, which cost over €3 million to renovate. Furthermore, last year it was announced that the Bon Secours Hospital in Tuam, called the Grove hospital locally, was to get a €3 million renovation to turn it into a mental health day hospital, but that plan has not left the drawing board. Thousands of euro are being spent on security in the place. In light of all the other broken promises, one wonders when that one will see the light of day. While the farce of closing units before new facilities are ready appears to be HSE policy, we are still sending vulnerable patients abroad for urgent treatment.

The much vaunted Vision for Change plan for mental health services recommended that care be given close to the communities in which patients live, but the opposite is now happening in Galway, with all mental health care being centralised in the city hospital even though it is already overcrowded and in an appalling condition. A new unit in Ballinasloe was renovated at great cost but it now houses record boxes. It must be the must the most expensive warehouse in the county. Another facility was promised in Tuam after the closure of the newly refurbished unit in Ballinasloe. Where is the planning or sense of purpose? Where is the vision for change? HSE policy in this area is beyond a sham. I have been in contact with families struggling to cope with loved ones who are suffering from mental illness. In some cases their only option is to seek treatment abroad, which puts enormous strain on the patients and their families. The HSE's policy for mental health requires an urgent reality check and an urgent debate in this House.