Department of Adult Psychiatry

We provide psychiatric and psychological assessment and care to Mater Hospital inpatients as well as follow up outpatient services to patients after discharge from the hospital. Patients are referred to us by Mater Hospital staff. 

We provide psychiatric assessment of patients who come to the Emergency Department, who are staying on hospital wards and who attend outpatient clinics.

The main inpatient ward in the hospital for our patients is called St Aloysius ward. It has 15 beds, five of which are Mater Hospital beds. The remaining ten beds are part of the HSE Community Mental Health Service. 

Our outpatient clinics are held in the Whitty Building on Mondays for new patients, and on Thursdays for patients that are coming back for a review. 

We work as part of a team that includes:

• Consultant psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists
• Psychologists
• Clinical nurse specialist
• Alcohol counsellor
• Secretarial staff

We also provide a specialist service to the national heart and lung transplantation service. This involves assessing patients before transplantation and managing psychiatric or psychological problems after transplantation. 

We also work closely with the consultant psychiatrist in the Addiction Service.   

Education and research

 
We are actively involved in education and research. One of the two UCD professors of psychiatry is based here at the Mater Hospital. About 150 students participate in lectures in psychiatry and teaching is also provided to physiotherapy students and nurses.

A weekly journal club is held and a monthly clinical update is run by the consultant staff. The psychiatry service also participates in the hospital grand rounds; this is a weekly meeting where we review recent research and developments in clinical practice. 

Useful links

• College of Psychiatrists of Ireland 
• The Royal College of Psychiatrists
• American Psychiatric Association