Mental health crisis teams for Cork hospitals
Recruitment has been announced of specialist health nursing teams at Cork University Hospital (CUH) and Mercy University Hospital (MUH), as part of a broader national recruitment programme.
The teams - which will be made up of Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANP) and Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS) - will provide specialist support to people presenting to emergency departments in mental health crises.
The teams at CUH and MUH are part of a wider programme of mental health crisis reform under the Sharing the Vision and Connecting for Life (2026-2035).
Teams are also being recruited across five hospitals in Dublin, as well as Waterford University Hospital, University Hospital Limerick, and University Hospital Galway.
Funding for the teams was outlined in the latest Budget.
Approximately €15 million was outlined for crisis supports and targeted suicide prevention measures, including €2.8 million to establish specialist out-of-hours mental health crisis nursing teams at CUH and MUH.
Around €4 million was also provided for community-based teams and services.
Recruitment is underway in ten hospitals across the country including CUH and MUH. Local planning and implementation work is progressing simultaneously to ensure the services can be introduced as quickly as possible once recruitment is complete.
Minister for Mental Health, Mary Butler, said the teams will support frontline hospital staff in responding to people who present in crisis.
“When someone comes to an emergency department in the midst of a mental health crisis, they need timely, compassionate and specialist
support.
These new nursing teams will help ensure that people experiencing severe distress, self-harm, or suicidal thoughts can access the care they need, when they need it most,” she said.
She said improving crisis supports are one of her key priorities for 2026. Besides the crisis teams, she also highlighted new community-based crisis teams, additional crisis or ‘Solace Cafés’, and six new Suicide Crisis Assessment Nursing teams to support GPs.
“Our goal is to ensure that people experiencing a mental health crisis can access support quickly, compassionately and as close to home as possible,” she said.