Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I thank my Fianna Fáil colleagues for using their Private Members' time to discuss this vital topic of mental health services. I welcome the many friends from the community in Ballinasloe who are present in the Visitors Gallery for the debate this afternoon.

I acknowledge the personal commitment of the Minister of State to driving the Vision for Change concept and her success in securing the resources required to deliver a community-based service, which is gradually being put in place and working well in many parts of the country.

I accept that not as many resources as the Minister of State would wish are being put into the service, but I recognise she is fighting a good battle in that regard. The experts tell us this delivers the best possible outcomes for patients. However, there will always be a need for acute beds in the system. A Vision for Change recommends 50 beds for a population of 300,000 people. Currently there are 35 acute beds in Galway city and 22 each in the hospital in Roscommon and St. Brigid's Hospital, making a total of 79 beds for a population of approximately 315,000 people.

I accept that under A Vision for Change this is too many beds. A steering group assessed the merits of Roscommon and Ballinasloe and, using a scoring system, decided that the Roscommon facility was preferable. In my opinion and in the opinion of mental health clinicians and hospital consultants, the scoring system was flawed and does not stand up to close scrutiny. As the Minister of State is aware, the Roscommon unit is located beside a category 2 hospital while the Ballinasloe unit is close to a category 3 hospital, Portiuncula Hospital. Despite this, under the scoring system used, Roscommon scored ten under the heading "adjacent to a main or regional hospital". This is just one of a number of scores that do not add up. For any major project in the health area to succeed and to gain acceptance by those using the service, their families, the staff and the community, there must be honesty and transparency in decision-making. There must be respect for patients, staff and community and good communications. It is with great regret that I say to the Minister of State that HSE west management displayed total disrespect for patients, staff and the people of Ballinasloe by their actions in dismantling beds in the acute unit in Ballinasloe last night in the knowledge that a Seanad debate was taking place today. If it wanted to alienate a community, it went the right way about it. They showed no respect to me or to my colleagues, as Members of the Oireachtas, given that we were led to believe no beds would be removed in advance of today's debate. I welcome the fact that following my intervention last night, the beds were returned to the acute unit.

As the Minister of State is aware, Ballinasloe has been synonymous with the provision of mental health services for more than a century. The services have changed from an institutional setting to a community-based model. East Galway mental health services have been implementing A Vision for Change effectively for many years and in many instances are well ahead of the curve in comparison with other parts of the country.

I place on record the appreciation of the community, the service users and their families to the wonderful staff who provide mental health care in our community. I have been deeply moved, as has Senator David Norris and others who have spoken, by the huge volume of testimonies I have received from so many patients and their families who have benefited from care in St. Brigid's Hospital acute unit. The acute unit in University College Hospital Galway is a 1970s building in very poor condition. It is on an exceptionally cramped site and is difficult for patients and families to access and has totally inadequate parking facilities. The Roscommon unit is beside a category 2 hospital while a state-of-the-art facility costing €3 million is on a fabulous site close to a category 3 hospital.

It makes sense to use that beautiful facility in Ballinasloe. I am not asking, and neither is the proposer of the motion asking, the Minister of State to reverse any particular decision in relation to A Vision for Change. I support the whole concept of A Vision for Change but I am unhappy with the scoring system used. I implore the Minister of State to review the scoring system that decided the Roscommon facility was more suitable than the Ballinasloe facility. That is not too much to ask. While that review is taking place, I ask the Minister of State to give a commitment that no further beds will be removed from the facility in St. Brigid's Hospital. I support the concept of A Vision for Change but I appeal to the Minister of State, in order for the system to have credibility and to get the support and the buy-in of the community and the people of Galway and Roscommon, to ensure there is no doubt about the honesty and the veracity of that scoring system. The Minister of State would do a great service to the provision of mental health services in Galway and Roscommon if she can accede to that part of the motion.