Prisons are used as A & E trolleys for mentally ill, according to Clinical Director of Central Mental Hospital

19th July 2012

Following a visit to Mountjoy Prison, Gary Culliton, The Medical Times, (Prisons: the ED trolleys for mentally ill 19th July 2012) found that in early July, twelve severely mentally ill prisoners across Ireland were waiting for a bed in the Central Mental Hospital. Overcrowding in Mountjoy prison poses a particular problem for anyone in need of acute psychiatric care. In the article, IPRT Director, Liam Herrick emphasised, “Prisoners are sleeping in inappropriate parts of the prison — sections that are not designed for such use. There is doubling-up and tripling-up across the prison. That is a major risk factor for self-harm, violence, drug use and mental health difficulties. It is a serious issue at the prison.” 

Read more:

• The Medical Times (Prisons: the ED trolleys for mentally ill 19th July 2012) 
• IPRT archive of Health in Prison
• Mental Illness in Irish Prisons: Psychiatric Morbidity  in Sentenced, remanded and Newly Committed Prisoners by HG Kennedy et al (2005)