Mayo woman left ‘traumatised’ after ‘repeated incidents’ at mental health unit

A woman from Mayo has been left “traumatised” after “repeated incidents” at a mental health unit, the Dáil has heard.

Mayo Sinn Féin TD Rose Conway-Walsh raised the case of one of her constituents during a debate on emergency mental health services.

Deputy Conway-Walsh said: “I will begin with the case of a woman from County Mayo who has been in an adult mental health unit since June of last year.

“She was admitted in acute distress but was otherwise physically well. Today, after repeated incidents in what is meant to be a secure unit, she has suffered a choking episode, a broken hip and most recently a broken wrist requiring surgery.

“Her family now describe her as frail, traumatised, frightened to walk and deteriorating before their eyes. This is not good enough.”

READ NEXT: Ireland West Airport announces upgrade of its car park facilities

She went on to explain why the family is unable to take the woman out of the facility.

“When her brother sought answers and intervened to have her removed to a nursing home, he was told that there was nothing that could proceed without written consent from a woman who by every account is not mentally well enough to give informed consent.

“This is not patient-centred care. It is bureaucracy used as a shield while families are left desperate and unheard.”

On the subject of mental health services, Deputy Conway-Walsh also mentioned a psychiatric nurse from Mayo who has been unable to find work in the county.

“At the very same time, a highly qualified psychiatric nurse born and raised in Mayo with ten years experience in the NHS wants to come back to work in Mayo but is being told that there are no jobs.

“In a county experiencing profound mental health distress, including the tragic loss of life to suicide, a highly skilled psychiatric nurse is being told she is not needed. We need to join up the dots.

“We cannot continue to funnel 50,000 people in mental health crisis into chaotic accident and emergency settings that are not fit for purpose.”

She concluded by highlighting the ambulance shortages and overcrowding at Mayo University Hospital.

Deputy Conway-Walsh was speaking amid a motion put forward by her Sinn Féin colleague, Deputy Sorca Clarke.

The motion stated: “That Dáil Éireann notes the report from the Mental Health Commission entitled ‘Acute Mental Healthcare in Hospital Emergency Departments in Ireland: A National Survey from the Office of the Inspector of Mental Health Services’, which found that ‘international best practice… is not available in most emergency departments in Ireland’.”

The Government chose not to oppose the motion, which meant it passed unanimously without a vote being required.