The lack of emergency mental health services in D 15 is becoming increasingly problematic as desperate people have nowhere to turn.
That’s according to Aontú Cllr Ellen Troy who says
“More and more constituents are coming to me to voice their utter dismay, fear and concern over the lack of mental health crises services available in this area which are under resourced and insufficient to meet the needs of those who need them.
One very concerned constituent relayed to me how she came across a young man slumped over on a bench while out walking on Delwood Road.
When she and her husband went to check on him, he told them he was homeless and had nowhere to go.
Over the course of talking to him for a few more minutes, she said it became apparent he was in the middle of a significant mental health crisis and had actually planned to take his own life when he got to emergency accommodation.
He told her that he had made an attempt a few weeks ago to hang himself in Hartstown Park, then lay down in front of traffic – someone called an ambulance for him then but he was discharged, with follow up care scheduled for three weeks later and no support in the meantime.
This is shocking
The lady and her husband stayed with the man, calling both the Gardai and an ambulance.
She claims it took almost three hours for an ambulance to arrive, during which time the man was becoming increasingly agitated and aggressive and trying to leave to take himself to the nearest train station to end his life. The lady waited with him for the three hours, making two more phone calls to the Gardai and multiple follow ups with the ambulance service but there was simply no car or ambulance available.
She was at pains to point out that she knows the Gardai and the Ambulance service were doing all they could but are overwhelmed which is not their fault.
It’s as a result of a poorly funded, broken and overwhelmed system is working on the ground for real people with mental health issues.
An A &E in a busy, noisy hospital is not the place for people who are experiencing mental distress and anguish.
This Government is failing people badly”
