Deputy Sorca Clarke: I move: 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";

further notes that:

• more than 50,000 people in mental health crisis present annually to emergency departments;
• hospital managers are reporting increased mental health demand in emergency care;
• the Mental Health Commission has found substantial variation in the quality of emergency mental health services across the State, which is having a negative impact on access to care;
• eight emergency departments do not have appropriate spaces for mental health crisis assessments; and
• professionals and advocates in the mental health sector have sought urgent policy actions, including a better mental health crisis model in acute hospitals, increased investment in community-based alternatives, and examination of an increased role for smaller hospitals in mental health emergencies;

considers that:

• a fully realised network of mental health emergency rooms, Suicide Crisis Assessment Nurse services, crisis resolution teams and community supports are essential to delivering the vision set out in "Sharing the Vision – A Mental Health Policy for Everyone", and ensuring that every person in crisis receives timely care;
• access to safe, specialised, emergency mental health care remains inadequate, leaving many in crisis without timely access to care; and
• mental health crisis centres are under development by the English National Health Service to provide safe rapid access spaces for people experiencing a mental health emergency;
• recalls the commitment in the Government's mental health policy "Sharing the Vision – A Mental Health Policy for Everyone", to provide appropriate mental health emergency facilities in every hospital; and

calls on the Government to:

• require every Model 3 and Model 4 hospital to have a dedicated mental health emergency room, separate from chaotic emergency departments;
• commission an expert review of the role of Model 2 hospitals in providing crisis mental health services, and invest in a network of specialist mental health crisis centres;
• ensure every hospital has the appropriate complement of specialist professionals;
• ringfence investment in mental health crisis assessment and intervention services, including community-based alternatives such as therapy services, late-night outreach spaces, crisis resolution teams, and community-based assessment, support, and treatment teams; and
• develop an integrated crisis response pathway for children and young people experiencing a mental health crisis, including an improved child and youth liaison service, with emergency departments.

This motion seeks to reshape the way emergency mental healthcare is delivered. It sets out a clear plan for a dedicated and clinically appropriate emergency mental health system because too often, people experiencing acute distress are brought into busy emergency departments that are simply not designed to meet their needs...

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