Grace O'Sullivan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I raise an issue of extreme importance and urgency that emerged almost by accident at yesterday's meeting of the Joint Committee on the Future of Mental Health Care. The committee Chairman, Senator Joan Freeman, was made that three consultant psychiatrists in Waterford and Wexford had resigned their positions together and that the fourth consultant for the south east region was on sick leave. Is the consultant on extended sick leave? If so, it will mean the region will be left completely bereft of expert mental healthcare from mid-July. It will also disable the operation of most, if not all, mental healthcare services in the region if junior staff, non-consultant hospital doctors, psychologists and occupational therapists are left without senior staff to guide and authorise their work. I have no desire to create panic but the situation in the region has been deteriorating for a long time. I have raised the issue a number of times and was told the Government planned to improve conditions in mental health facilities for patients and staff. Unfortunately, we have heard from both groups about growing waiting lists, deteriorating working conditions and poor service delivery. This is leading to worse outcomes for patients and is necessitating more expensive treatments and a higher incidence of emergency care.

Even if the HSE begins a recruitment process immediately, the staff required will not be in place for a long time. As present as many as 500 work places are unfilled nationally and, incredibly, 26 psychiatric nurse positions are vacant in the south east region. Recruitment can take up to six months with nurses having to undergo a recruitment process that involves 25 steps. That the staffing problem is more acute in the south east is sadly demonstrated by the extreme waiting times faced by many young people and the number of tragic suicides among young people in the past year.

Last April, the report by the Joint Committee on the Future of Mental Health Care highlighted chronic understaffing and an over-reliance on agency staff to temporarily fill positions. Yesterday, the annual report of the Ombudsman for Children was published. The report revealed that young people facing mental health problems experienced shortcomings in services, which are manifested in stressed and overworked staff who are left unable to deliver the desired standard of care. The waiting lists are long and move very slowly. The problem is particularly acute for young people who are in dire need of emergency care and at severe risk of self-harm. Mental healthcare does not have to be like this. We need a significant increase in investment in mental healthcare in the region in one sharp move. Such a move would illustrate that the region is not a bad place to work and that proper care can be delivered in a timely manner.

The Sláintecare plan advocated the prioritisation of primary care to save money, achieve better outcomes and help ensure people can avoid seeking the help they need in emergency departments. The same approach needs to be applied to mental healthcare in Waterford and the south east region. Young people, in particular, need to get the help they deserve without having to fight, beg and plead. Previous Governments and the HSE have presided over closures and the concentration of services to the detriment of patients. Previous regional hospitals enjoyed greater control over hiring policies that helped them adapt best to the prevailing need.

I appeal to the Leader to ensure the legacy of this Government is not a crisis in mental health in the south east. I must do more than simply make an appeal, as a citizen of Waterford and a representative of the south east region. I must insist on hearing how the Government will manage the short-term crisis presented by the staffing shortfall caused by the resignation of two consultant psychiatrists and how the Government will prevent the crisis from continuing to drive professionals out of the service in the future. I insist that the Leader invites the Minister for Health to the House after the debate on the motion this afternoon. I propose an amendment to the Order of Business to that effect because the current position in the south east cannot be allowed to continue.