No bed in hospital despite suicide risk

St Vincent’s Hospital was aware no bed was available for a suicidal man having homicidal thoughts when it transferred him on to his local mental health service for assessment, a consultant psychiatrist has claimed.

Raymond Pierce, aged 46, was found by his wife at their home at Broadford Lawn, Ballinteer in Dublin 16 on March 15, 2013, the morning after he presented at St Vincent’s Hospital with “active suicidal thinking”. St Vincent’s transferred the father of two to Cluain Mhuire Services (CMS), the community mental health service for his catchment area, which sent him home with an outpatient appointment after it was unable to secure him a bed.

Consultant psychiatrist and CMS clinical director Siobhán Barry told Dublin Coroner’s Court she did not have a bed for Mr Pierce at St John of God Hospital, where CMS rents inpatient beds, and this was “flagged up from the outset” when contacted by St Vincent’s.