Specialist teams could reduce rate of suicides
Liam McNamara, of PNA, said senior medical consultants were calling for dedicated teams to be provided - with over 8,500 cases of deliberate self-harm presenting straight to accident and emergency wards.
“As previous self-harm is a major risk factor of subsequent suicide, providing a high standard of care for those who harm themselves could help reduce the rate of suicide,” Mr McNamara told delegates gathered at the PNA annual conference in Tralee, Co Kerry.
He said a recent study had shown many of the people attending the A&E wards had not received a psychiatric assessment after deliberately harming themselves.
The numbers of people who took their own lives in 2003 stood at 444, which was a minor drop from 451 the previous year.
The report of the National Suicide Review Group has found that of the 10,000 people presenting to hospitals having attempted self-harm - 90% are under 50 years of age.
Mr McNamara called on Health Minister Mary Harney to restore the mental health budget to its 1980s level of 13.8% of total health spending - as it stands at only 6.8%.
“The state of the psychiatric services and the funding provided by the State for the services is a national disgrace,” he said.
“Staff shortages are now a major issue. The lack of proper manpower planning and the cap on numbers, the maintenance of existing levels of staff are all contributing to what is now a crisis within our services.”
Ms Harney, in her address to the conference, warned of the need for all sectors to come on board and see through the reform of the health service. She stressed that nurses in particular had a strong role to play.
Mr McNamara also raised the issue of a compensation scheme to provide nurses with a lump sum for suffering and costs if they were injured as a result of a serious assault.
On the compensation scheme, Ms Harney said she would bring the issue before the Government.
Mr McNamara said the health service now had only a “fraction” of the 144 beds recommended for under-16s and the 80 required for 16 to 18-year-olds.
He warned that one-in-four of the population will be affected by mental ill health during their lives, with 40,000 people suffering from serious mental illnesses. He appealed to the Tánaiste to ensure that the funds coming from the sale of lands and properties in the mental health sector were reinvested into services.
