An emergency response is needed to 'crisis' in mental health services - Guirke
(Above) Deputy Johnny Guirke.
Access to mental health services has gone "from a crisis to an emergency" during the pandemic, according to Deputy Johnny Guirke.
Speaking ahead of a Sinn Féin motion on the issue that will be discussed in the Dáil this week, Deputy Guirke said that the pandemic has had a negative impact on many people's mental health.
“Sinn Féin has engaged with service providers, service users and advocacy groups locally and nationally. What we are witnessing here in Meath and Westmeath is being mirrored across the state - alarming increases in depression, isolation, loneliness and anxiety.
“As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, access to mental health services has gone from a crisis to an emergency. Pre-pandemic, mental health care waiting lists within the public system were at crisis levels but are now at unprecedented emergency levels.
“Now more than ever we need to ensure that mental health services are accessible for all those who need them. Nobody should be left behind.
“There are extraordinary pressures on mental health services, which have suffered years of underinvestment and, as a result, are wholly unprepared and under-resourced to deal with this emergency.
“We now have 2,551 children and young people waiting for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, 8,893 children waiting for primary care psychology, and 1,553 adults waiting on primary care psychology treatment with the HSE.
"Sinn Féin spokesperson on Mental Health Mark Ward TD recently published our proposals to tackle this crisis and we are now urging government to deliver an emergency response.
“Sinn Féin’s motion calls on government to:
· Establish an emergency talk therapy fund to provide an additional 128,000 sessions with accredited counsellors/therapists in the private system for those in need of immediate support on referral from a GP;
· Remove GP and medical cards accessibility barriers to deliver universal access to counselling in primary care;
· Recruit 138 additional child/adolescent psychologists and 138 additional adult psychologists to provide additional capacity in every primary care facility;
· Assist community organisations to continue to provide mental health supports;
· Create funding streams to support trainee counselling psychologists during the pandemic;
· Establish a 24/7 Care Public Crisis De-escalation, Multi Agency Triage Team Ambulance Service in every CHO area;
· Maximise surge capacity within all private hospitals with acute mental health beds in accordance with the ‘surge capacity’ agreement currently in place.
“Sinn Féin is calling on all TDs to support our motion. The government urgently needs to step up the plate. Failure to deliver an emergency response to this crisis will set back services, and those in need of them, for a generation.”
This Thursday, April 22, Deputy Guirke and the Sinn Féin spokesperson on mental health, Deputy Mark Ward, will be hosting an online discussion on the crisis in the mental health service. The discussion can be viewed on Deputy Guirke's Facebook page and starts at 7.30pm.
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