Don't call us, we won't call you

This was quite a shocking one....

Phones at a HSE clinic that treats mental health difficulties of young people and adolescents are not being answered.
And a message left by staff of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service in Athy on the answering machine discourages potential patients from leaving a message.
“This is the Child Guidance Service. Unfortunately we're currently without secretarial service so this phone will not be answered,” the message left by a clearly frustrated staff member says.
It continues: “You may leave a message but we cannot guarantee that this message will be checked at any time, so if this is an emergency, please contact your GP, on-call service or your A&E department.
“We greatly regret this situation. Thank you.”
The Child Guidance Service is one of three clinics that are part of the Mental Health Services section of the HSE in Kildare/West Wicklow.
The Leinster Leader rang the other two clinics, in Celbridge and Kill. While the phones were not answered there either, the message did invite callers to leave a message, saying they would get back to them.
Cllr. Mark Wall was shocked to hear the news.
“It's unbelievable to say the least. I've listened to the message and you can hear the frustration in that man's voice,” Cllr. Wall said.
“I've been saying it for some time. There has to be a whole serious re-think about what the HSE is doing in terms of the money they're getting and the services they're providing.
“And again it's the most vulnerable, such as in this instance young kids and adolescents with issues, that are getting hit.”
Sean O'Sullivan of Kildare based HOPED (Help Other People Endure Depression) agreed that the message was indicative of the HSE's general approach to dealing with mental health.
“We need leadership from the HSE on this issue,” he explained.
“All of the voluntary groups should be under the one umbrella,” he said, adding that there had been an initiative some time ago from the HSE to do this, but it came to nothing.
“When you're depressed, you eventually you lift that phone to make that connection with somebody.” That first connection, he explained was very important.
“A lot of people ring me themselves, but a lot of them go to their deaths and nobody knows about it.”
“I write letters from the HSE and it could take two months for them to reply.
“I know they have best of intentions, but under the HSE it's a quagmire.”
“We have more than twice as many people dying through suicide compared to dying on the roads,” he said, adding that there was no national figure like Gay Byrne to campaign for it.
Referring to the message left on the Athy clinic's answering machine,a spokesperson for the HSE said “this is only a temporary arrangement which the HSE is currently working to resolve”.
And she insisted that if people left a message on the phone, “somebody will get back to them”.