A call was made today for specialist teams of medical experts to be drafted in to deal with the 10,000 people admitted to hospitals after attempting suicide each year.
Liam McNamara of the Psychiatric Nurses' Association (PNA) said senior medical consultants were calling for dedicated teams to be provided, with over 8,500 cases of deliberate self-harm presenting straight to accident and emergency wards.
"As previous self-harm is a major risk factor of subsequent suicide, providing a high standard of care for those who harm themselves could help reduce the rate of suicide," Mr McNamara told hundreds of delegates gathered at the PNA annual conference in Tralee, Co Kerry.
The chairman said a recent study had shown that many of the people attending the A&E wards had not received a psychiatric assessment after deliberately harming themselves.
The numbers of people who took their own lives in 2003 stood at 444, which was a minor drop from 451 the previous year.
The report of the National Suicide Review Group has found that of the 10,000 people presenting to hospitals having attempted self-harm, 90 per cent are under 50 years old.
Mr McNamara called upon Minister for Health Mary Harney to restore the Mental Health Budget to its 1980s level of 13.8 per cent of total health spending; it stands at only 6.8 per cent.
"The state of the psychiatric services and the funding provided by the state for the services is a national disgrace," he said. "Staff shortages are now a major issue."
The lack of proper manpower planning and the cap on numbers, the maintenance of existing levels of staff are all contributing to what is now a crisis within our services," Mr McNamara said.
Ms Harney in her address to the conference warned of the need for all sectors to come on board and see through the reform of the health service. She stressed that nurses in particular had a strong role to play.
PA