The HSE’s ongoing silence regarding mental health services locally has been brought up in the Dáil.
Kilkenny Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister of State in the Health Department why the HSE has so far refused to engage with KCLR on this issue.
For the last number of months, KCLR has been reporting on cases involving the Department of Psychiatry at St Luke’s Hospital.
Service users have been speaking out about their dealings with the D-O-P, often saying they felt there wasn’t sufficient after-care given, with some saying they felt abandoned.
Others have praised the staff there for the care they received.
KCLR has repeatedly asked the HSE’s press office for a spokesperson to explain how the services work locally but they have so far refused.
Carlow/Kilkenny TD John McGuinness last week asked Minister Helen McEntee of the Department of Health to provide a spokesperson to this station to answer concerns that the public have.
However, the response he got was simply that the query should be re-directed to the HSE’s press office.
It’s now understood that the HSE may be willing to co-operate in the coming weeks.
