Mattie McGrath warns of mental health bed crisis in Tipperary
Mattie McGrath spoke in a parliamentary debate about a shortage of mental health beds and community services in Tipperary and urged urgent action. He argued that hundreds of patients were discharged from hospital without adequate follow-up and criticised spending on facilities not providing psychiatric beds.
Allegation of a local crisis
Mattie McGrath described the situation as "sad and scandalous," saying there are no long-stay mental health beds in Tipperary and that a proposed crisis house cannot be progressed to tender. He framed the issue as an ongoing local emergency affecting families in his county.
Patient numbers presented
He cited 724 patients who presented at South Victoria General Hospital in 2019 with mental health issues. McGrath said about 140 were transferred to St Luke's and Kingkiney psychiatric unit, leaving roughly 600 patients discharged with little or no community support.
Concerns about funding and facilities
McGrath said almost €2.1 million has been spent on the old St Michael's, which was closed under Vision for Change, yet no beds there will be allocated for mental health. He criticised the apparent mismatch between capital spending and available psychiatric bed capacity.
Allegations of ignored suicides
He told colleagues that many of those discharged have gone on to take their own lives and accused the government of ignoring the human cost. McGrath said he would continue to raise the issue repeatedly in the chamber.
Government response and policy points
The Taoiseach responded that the issue has not been ignored and acknowledged the significant impact of COVID-19 on mental health. He highlighted difficulties in recruiting clinicians despite resource allocations and stressed the importance of community mental health services and timely A&E follow-up so no one leaves acute care without appropriate community-based support.
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I want to return to you the very sad and scandalous situation of no mental health beds, long-stay beds in Tipperary, and a crisis house that we cannot progress to tender. 724 patients were presented at South Victoria General Hospital last year with mental health issues in 2019. 14 of those patients, that's 14 a week, and only 11 per month, you know 140, were transferred to St Luke's and Kingkiney, the psychiatric unit. So, 600 odd were left to their own devices and go home with scarcely any community services or anything else. Jeez, this is the scandal. At the same time, I have parliamentary replies telling me that 2 million now, almost 2.1 million, has been spent on the old St Michael's, which was closed under Vision for Change, and not a bed there is going to be for mental health. This is all COVID related, and the impact of COVID on the mental health of families and people again today is huge in every county, but in my county of Tipperary, and I'm going to keep raising this with you every day here because it's a scandal that we don't have a mental health bed for people who present. 600 of them were either sent home. Many of them have taken their own lives in the past Saturday, and this has been ignored by your government. Time is up, Taoiseach. Well, it's not been ignored, and I do accept your point in relation to the impact of COVID-19 on mental health, which is very, I think, significant and serious and could continue as long as the pandemic continues. I would be concerned about that. And I think we do need to be very conscious of that in terms of the allocation of resources, but also the utilization of resources. Mental health has had quite a significant resources allocated in a number of years, but the capacity to recruit clinicians and personnel has proved difficult. And that's a problem. And I think that the most important provision in mental health is community mental health, actually. No one should leave an acute hospital, an A&E with no follow up in terms of either a psychiatric nurse or some community based psychiatric service. Thank you. That would be of help. That's the ideal model, ultimately, you know. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
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