LIMERICK Senator Kieran O’Donnell has called on the Minister of State for Mental Health Helen McEntee to redress previous governmental failings and do more to upgrade mental health facilities in the city and county.
During last week’s Seanad debate on mental health, Senator O’Donnell highlighted the failure by the HSE to deliver the 20-bed specific mental health facility for children and adolescents at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) as recommended under the Vision for Change document a decade ago in 2006.
And he brought to the Minister’s attention to the alarmingly high rate of deaths by suicide in Limerick.
Speaking to the Limerick Post, Senator O’Donnell said that figures from the National Office for Suicide Prevention show that Limerick City had the highest suicide rate at 21 persons for every 100,000 of population between 2011 and 2013,.
CSO data for 2014 showed that this had increased to 23 persons for every 100,000 of population at a time when the national average was ten.
And while last year’s figures indicated a reduction to 16 persons for every 100,000 of population, it was still almost twice the national average.
Senator O’Donnell said that while the figures in the City were alarming, County Limerick statistics proved incredibly worrying with the male rate of suicide increasing from 9 to 21 between 2014 and 2015.
“26 deaths, 22 male and 4 female, by suicide were reported for Limerick City and County in 2015, which is a shocking figure and an increase of six on the previous year.
Stating that more needed to be done in Limerick, he said he found himself attending too many suicide-related funerals in Limerick and witnessing the devastation it causes to families.
“Some good work is being done under the national strategy to reduce suicide, but two further specific measures are needed to tackle mental health issues in Limerick.
“I have asked Minister McEntee to progress the provision of a 20-bed specific mental health facility for children and adolescents, which was part of the recommendations in the Vision for Change document a decade ago .
“It is inappropriate for children to be hospitalised in an adult ward at UHL. Child facilities are available in Cork and Galway, but parents may be unable to travel daily from Limerick and be with their children which is vital to their recovery process.
“I have also asked the Minister to arrange for the establishment of a specific multi-agency task force to look into and prepare a specific report on the alarmingly high rates of deaths by suicide in Limerick and make recommendations on how to tackle this crisis”, he added.
by Daragh Frawley
