Local TD calls for urgent reforms to emergency mental health services

Sinn Féin TD for Longford–Westmeath, Sorca Clarke, has called for urgent reform of the State’s emergency mental health services, warning that current arrangements are failing people in crisis and putting lives at risk.

Deputy Clarke said tens of thousands of people present to emergency departments every year while experiencing a mental health crisis, including suicidal ideation and severe psychological distress.

She said that emergency departments are often chaotic and overcrowded environments that are not designed to meet the needs of people in mental health crisis.

“This is the result of years of government failure to properly fund and deliver mental health services in the community and in acute settings,” she said.

“When vital supports such as crisis teams, therapy services, out-of-hours care and safe crisis spaces are missing, people are left with no option but to turn up at emergency departments.”

Deputy Clarke highlighted significant gaps in mental health provision across the country, pointing to what she described as a “postcode lottery” in access to care. She noted that 11 counties, including Longford and Westmeath, do not have a Suicide Crisis Assessment Nurse (SCAN) service.

“This means access to life-saving mental health care depends on where you live, which is completely unacceptable,” she said.

She also said that eight emergency departments do not have appropriate spaces for carrying out mental health crisis assessments.

Deputy Clarke said reform of emergency mental health services must go beyond managing existing pressures and instead focus on delivering meaningful change.

She argued that every major hospital should have a dedicated mental health emergency room, staffed by specialist professionals and separate from general emergency departments.

She also called for a longer-term approach, including the development of specialist mental health crisis centres and greater use of local hospitals to provide crisis care outside of overcrowded major hospitals.

“People who are in distress need a calm and safe environment where they will be seen in a timely manner,” she said.

“The last thing they need is to be left wandering emergency department corridors alone. Dedicated mental health emergency rooms save lives.”