New mental health unit for Naas hospital delayed
I am extremely concerned that the development of a new mental health unit in Naas Hospital has been delayed due to the termination of the appointed design team.
I received information from a Parliamentary Question stating that “The appointed design team’s engagement for the development of a new mental health unit at Naas General Hospital has recently been terminated due to a significant expansion of project scope and associated increases in project value. HSE Estates are now preparing to procure a new design team for the expanded project.”
Lakeview Unit in Naas Hospital was built in the 1980’s when the population of Kildare West Wicklow was 138,000. It now serves a population of close to 242,000 and does not have the infrastructure to cater for that population size. Many of my constituents in need of urgent mental healthcare are being sent to Portlaoise or Dublin. Infrastructure needs to be improved and a stand- alone mental health unit is urgently needed. This new delay in the development of a new unit is very worrying for my constituents who avail of the mental health services provided by Naas General Hospital.
Despite numerous announcements from Fine Gael and much-publicised visits from Ministers McEntee and Daly, this project shows no signs of making any progress. The community health care area in which Lakeview is based has the lowest number of mental health in-patient beds in Ireland at 19.6 per 100,000. This must be addressed immediately to allow people in the CHO7 area access mental health supports in a timely manner.