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Sir, – While I concur with John Farrelly (“Central Mental Hospital stand-off a symptom of a failed system”, Opinion & Analysis, March 24th) that our public mental health system needs more resources to enable it to deliver holistic and timely care, his statement that “The public system offers very few options, other than a brief GP visit and medication” cannot go unchallenged.
HSE and HSE-funded mental health services provide care to thousands of people in the community every day and this includes a wide range of psychosocial therapies and supports. While we are currently dealing with a huge volume of new referrals as people and services grapple with the Covid pandemic, we continue to provide assessments and therapies. – Yours, etc,
Dr LARKIN FEENEY,
Consultant Psychiatrist
and Clinical Director,
St John of God (Public)
Mental Health Services,
Stillorgan,
Co Dublin.