Dozens denied help take their life each year
The claim has been made by a leading medical group, the Psychiatric Nurses Association, which has warned the issue is being ignored because people who die after seeking help are not counted separately to other suicides.
At the union’s annual delegate conference yesterday, PNA general secretary Des Kavanagh called for an “urgent” review of the issue by minister of sate with responsibility for mental health Kathleen Lynch.
He said, in one area alone, more than a dozen people have died in just 18 months despite seeking potentially life-saving help.
“We have a situation where there is no system for identifying the number of persons who are denied admission to acute units or are discharged prematurely and later complete suicide,” Mr Kavanagh warned.
“In one service [the Carlow-Kilkenny-South Tipperary area] we have identified 14 persons who completed suicides in 18 months — three while in-patients, six following discharge and the remainder who had some contact or involvement with our services.”
The latest official figures from the latest HSE National Office for Suicide Prevention annual report, released last September, show 495 people officially died by suicide in 2010, the most recent period available.
However, it is not known how many of these people have died after cries for help.
Kerry is the county with the highest suicide rate, followed by Leitrim, Cork and Westmeath. Longford, Dublin and Donegal had the lowest levels.
Responding to the PNA claims last night, a HSE spokesperson said: “The HSE is aware of a number of deaths which have been reported to the Mental Health Commission in line with regulatory requirements. The NOSP is developing a new national framework. As part of the development of this framework, a Research Advisory Group has been established to consider the data-set required.”
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