Mental Health Services in Mayo

Mayo Mental Health Services provide inpatient and community services. Community Mental Health Teams are multidisciplinary teams led by Consultant Psychiatrists and comprising of Nursing, Social Workers, Psychologists, Occupational Therapists, Addiction Counsellors, CBT, Peer Support workers, Dietician and admin support. There are also a variety of specialist multidisciplinary teams in the areas of Psychiatry of Later Life, Rehabilitation and Recovery and Mental Health and Intellectual Disability.

Psychiatry of Later Life (Community) is divided into two areas within Mayo Mental Health Services – North and South. Psychiatry of Later Life is a recognised speciality which is concerned with the assessment and treatment of mental disorders arising for the first time over the age of 65 years. The service is community orientated, assessing, diagnosing and treating people in their own homes, nursing homes and District hospitals. St. Anne's Unit admits patients age 65+ who present with acute mental health problems and also patients with behavioural problems related to cognitive decline. The Unit is for both assessment and treatment. 

Rehabilitation and Recovery team is a community based 24 hour service. The service involves working within individuals’ social networks and families to enable access to local opportunities such as education, occupation and leisure. It aims for collaboration to enhance the strengths of its service users and to minimise disability. 

Mental Health of Intellectual Disability (MHID) Service is a specialist service within Mayo Mental Health Services. It aims to provide optimal mental health care for adults with a significant intellectual disability and mental illness/suspected mental disorder, with an associated level of complexity that requires input from a MHID service. This includes persons with a diagnosis of moderate, severe and profound intellectual disability. Specifically, the MHID service offers: Multi-disciplinary assessment, formulation and interventions that are person-centred, recovery focused and based on bio-psycho-social model. The MHID service is typically provided in the community with outpatient clinics, as well as home and service visits offered as appropriate. The MHID Team will also continue to provide assessment and intervention to a person should they require admission to the Adult Mental Health Unit, Mayo University Hospital.

The Consultation Liaison Service is a Psychiatry Service provided within Mayo University Hospital. The Consultation Liaison team complete a thorough Psychiatric assessment in the Emergency Department. Psychiatric intervention is provided when indicated. Recommendations for follow-up are made when indicated. Typical follow-up recommendations include referral to medical teams for medical treatment, referral to counselling/ psychological services and follow-up by the person’s GP. If the assessment warrants it, the person will be admitted to the in-patient psychiatric unit.  

The Consultation Liaison team also complete a thorough Psychiatric assessment on patients admitted to MUH medical, surgical and obstetric wards. The liaison team is led by a Consultant Psychiatrist, one N.C.H.D, two Advanced Nurse Practitioners and a CNS in Deliberate Self-Harm”.

Mental Health Engagement

The Area Lead for Mental Health Engagement and Recovery is a member of the Area Management team and is actively involved in the development of local forums, which are made up of people who have their own lived experience of mental health difficulties or are a supporter of a person with mental health difficulties. The purpose of the local forum is to gather the voice and experiences of people using mental health services, family members and carers in a welcoming space, to bring about positive change within mental health services. The work of the local forum is recovery and solution focused and will inform the planning, design and delivery of mental health services in Mayo through co-production.

The Area Forum includes representatives from each local forum, from mental health representational groups as well as statutory, voluntary and community-based service providers/groups and HSE service providers. Two democratically elected reps from each local forum will serve on the Area Forum and bring forward the views from grassroots level. Email: MHER.CHW@hse.ie

Details of Local Forum Meetings

  • Ballina Local Forum meets virtually on the third Tuesday of every month from 7.00pm to 9.00pm. Contact 087 4148743
  • Castlebar Local Forum meets virtually on the second Thursday of every month from 5.30pm to 7.30pm. Contact 087 4148743

Family Peer Support - Bealach Nua

MMHS in association with Mental Health Ireland provides a family peer support service to family members, carers and supporters of adult people with mental health challenges in County Mayo. Family peer support workers have personal experience of supporting loved ones with mental health challenges and this experience as well as further training in family peer support allows them to support families who access this service. Linking with a family peer support worker provides families carers and supporters the opportunity to talk to someone who has gone through a similar experience and found ways of building their own resilience and supporting themselves. The family peer worker can offer information, on-going emotional support and can direct families to other resources and services that might help the family cope positively with the challenges they face. Further details are available from Michael.McGeough@hse.ie.

Referral to Mental Health Services

The service provides a secondary specialist service to people experiencing moderate to severe mental illness in County Mayo. Individuals gain access to our services through their General Practitioners. Individuals can self-refer to Emergency Department, Mayo University Hospital 24/7. It is advised that a person should attend their GPs to refer them to the Emergency Department (if required) as there is a charge without a referral letter. In an emergency, service users can attend the Emergency Department directly.

The overall responsibility for the management of the Mayo Mental Health Service is the remit of the Area Management Team (AMT). The management group meet monthly and the membership is:

  • Head of Service, Mental Health CHO2
  • Executive Clinical Director (Chair)
  • Area Director of Mental Health Nursing
  • Principal Social Worker
  • Principal Psychologist
  • Occupational Therapist Manager
  • Area Lead for Mental Health Engagement
  • Business Manager
  • Administration, Secretary to the Group

Approved Centres

An Approved Centre is a service registered by the Mental Health Commission  to provide in-patient treatment to people suffering from mental illness www.mhcirl.ie.

  • An Coillin (Continuing Care Unit), St Mary’s Campus, Castlebar (094) 9021333
  • Adult Mental Health Unit (Acute Admission Unit), Mayo University Hospital, Castlebar (094) 9021733
  • Teach Aisling  (Intensive Rehab) Westport Road, Castlebar (094) 9021333
  • St Anne’s Unit, Sacred heart Hospital Campus, Castlebar (094) 9026337

Castlebar
Mayo PCCC Headquarters (094) 9021333
Castlebar Community Mental Health Team (094) 9042150
Ashbrooke Group Home  (094) 9021333
Kiltoome Group Home (094) 9021333
Alicante Group Home (094) 9021333
Coranna Group Home (094) 9021333
Rural Training Centre (094) 9042127
Training Centre, Castlebar (094) 9042188 / (094) 9042120
Psychiatry of Later Life, Team HQ, Sacred Heart Hospital Campus (094) 9028464

Ballina
Training Centre, Ballina (096) 71976
Ballina Community Mental Health Centre (096) 21891
Psychiatry of Later Life, Mercy Road, Ballina (096) 80428

Belmullet
Belmullet Community Mental Health Centre & Sector Headquarters (097) 81301

Swinford
The Willows, Swinford Community Mental Health Centre (094) 9253270

Ballinrobe
Ballinrobe Community Mental Health Centre (094) 9541615

Westport
Westport Community Mental Health Centre (098) 50142

Claremorris
Claremorris Community Mental Health Centre (094) 9371017
Springdale Sector Headquarters, Claremorris (094) 9372230

Kiltimagh
1 Group Home, Ivy House, Kiltimagh (094) 9021333

Advocacy
The Irish Advocacy Network is a service-user run and led mental health organisation. It provides a peer advocacy service. This means it is run by people who have experienced mental health issues. The service is confidential and free. The Irish Advocacy Network aims to provide information, support and choice for those who have experienced difficulties with their mental health and well-being.  Email: admin@irishadvocacynetwork.com

Recovery College West, County Clinic, Castlebar, Co. Mayo
The Purpose of Recovery College West is to create a culture of recovery, to improve quality of life and promote social inclusion by empowering people with mental health challenges, their families, friends and the community through co-produced education and learning together. 
Phone Number 086 0294901

Voluntary Bodies
Mayo Mental Health Services have close working relationships with: