Call for 24-hour psychiatric care in Enniscorthy – ‘how many people need to die due to lack of services?’

Since announcing her intention to run in this summer’s local elections, Wexford Independent Alliance (WIA) candidate Majella Wall has been canvassing throughout the town and its surrounds and says many people are suffering because of the deficit in services.

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“It is no secret that mental health services in Co Wexford are on their knees due to the lack of investment and poor planning by consecutive governments. I have been out on the doors meeting people in Enniscorthy and the lack of adequate mental health services is a major concern. Enniscorthy lost its acute psychiatric hospital services in 2013 and people accepted this in the hope that better was to come but there has been no replacement.

"I was well aware of the difficulties in accessing proper mental health services in Enniscorthy and Wexford, but listening to people’s stories for the last couple of weeks out on the canvass trail has at times been really upsetting, The struggle families are facing to secure services for their loved ones is heart-breaking”

Noting that the national spend on mental health services hasn’t increased since the 1980s despite a growing population, Ms Wall says that with Wexford’s own population growing by almost 10 per cent between 2016-2022 the need for specialised services is greater than ever.

“The people I am meeting each day want a fully operational 24-hour fully staffed unit urgently. They want a fully resourced crisis intervention team who can go to people’s homes when they are in crisis and they want home care teams. In addition Co Wexford needs fully staffed Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

"We also need wraparound services to support these children’s families. Demand is growing but services are declining in both adult and child adolescent services. How many more children and adults have to live in crisis.? How many more people have to die because of the lack of services? We the people of Wexford need to be vocal, we need action not promises.”