High Court president hits out at overstretched mental health services
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The president of the High Court has hit out at the State’s overstretched mental health services after a vulnerable man could only be accommodated at a Garda station, The Irish Times reports.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly ordered on Monday that the man, a ward of court who is vulnerable and intellectually disabled, be detained in a Garda station because the HSE could find no other place for him.
He had previously been accommodated at a facility for the intellectually disabled which said it would no longer deal with him.
Dr Brendan McCormack of the HSE told the court that psychiatric hospitals in the relevant area were at 110 per cent capacity.
Although a bed in the psychiatric ward of a general hospital was found on Tuesday, doctors warned that the man’s condition could get worse there as he is not psychiatrically unwell himself.
Mr Justice Kelly ordered his detention in the hospital ward while the HSE continues to look for more suitable accommodation.
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