Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 21 September 2021

Joint Committee On Health

Mental Health Services: HSE

Photo of Pat BuckleyPat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank everybody involved for organising this meeting. I welcome Mr. Fitzgerald, Dr. O’Brien and Mr. Chambers. I will get straight to the point. The previous speakers covered much of the nitty gritty and the aesthetics of what we have been discussing, that is, the building. I listened to Mr. Fitzgerald's comments and the word "building" has been mentioned many times.

I am worried that this was flagged up in reports as far back as 2016. From listening to service users and families of the service users, they feel the patients have got a hard deal. One can put in all the fancy words about conditions, registration, escalation, enforcement of actions and bla bla bla but it comes down to the fact that the HSE has the responsibility to provide a service. If the HSE is not maintaining a building in good nick, it should not let that fall on the patients because they are suffering. The best example I can give is that if one brings one's car to get the national car test, NCT, and it fails the test, one will get a report. That car will not pass the test until those problems are fixed so I want to know why those problems were not acted on previously.

Dr. O'Brien mentioned assessments. When were these full assessments carried out? Is it true that some of the patients were so upset that they were uncontrollably crying? I also want to go back to what was mentioned about filling posts and temporary posts. I have seen posts being advertised for 13 years and lying idle. Those are not proper answers to our questions. One matter that really disgusts me, and I will be frank about it, is the matter of looking for appropriate accommodation for these people. They are not patients but are people and they have feelings. The appropriate place for this is Midleton in County Cork. One can go back over all the Sláintecare and A Vision for Change reports. They were about community integration and supports and we have that. We had a Covid case in that centre but there has never been a suicide. I have been in there and I have met the patients. I know the staff in there and the HSE has not been kind to them when it comes to communication. What is the alternative to losing those services? I was taken by page 4 of the Owenacurra briefing document on the future of the site. I have put in parliamentary questions over and over again and the generic answer has been:

As this Parliamentary Question relates to an operational issue, it is a matter for the HSE. However, members of the Oireachtas are advised that the HSE is currently unable to access the information to answer Parliamentary Questions...

This is going back to July. I resubmitted the question and now the generic reply states that it has been passed on through the Minister's office to the HSE for reply. That will take at least another two weeks. Communication has been poor for us and it has been atrocious for the families from what I have heard. On top of that, the document on the future of the site states: "The site will be reviewed with Cork Kerry Community Healthcare Organisation to confirm what healthcare services are required in the area". It then goes on to question whether the site is suitable for the delivery of any of these services. That is a very worrying line.

The HSE does not understand the importance of a community-led and integrated centre. There are many locals from Midleton, where I am from, in the centre but it also covers a massive hinterland. The HSE is going to move them to what it calls a suitable place. It cannot be suitable if the areas they have mentioned are not accessible by public transport. Some of them are out in the country and others are locked out for 12 hours per day. That is not the integration of people. We need to come up with a plan B because the HSE does not even have a plan A for the centre, the site, the day care services or for all of these patients.

We ask all of these questions but there is no answer to them because the HSE does not have the answers. I will tell the witnesses how serious it is. We were at a full public meeting last night and there was anger there. I am asking the HSE to reverse this and come up with an alternative project because this is not going away in east Cork. The people out there are angry and worried. The witnesses may not be aware of this but unfortunately we had a tag in our town going back to 2002 when it was known as the suicide capital of the world but the witnesses are telling me we do not need mental health services in this town or in east Cork. It is a farce that the HSE came up with this report and is using it as an excuse. It is also using the Mental Health Commission as an excuse and it is blaming it on it. The Mental Health Commission was designed to keep tabs on the HSE, keep it going and do things right.

There is a Midleton community book and the proceeds of that go to the Midleton Community Hospital. It is led and supported by the community. That is how important these things are to the town. I do not mean to be harsh, but I have to be honest with the witnesses.

References was made to when those full assessments were completed. It was also suggested to me via email by a number of worried constituents and family members, in the early stages around seven weeks ago, that some of the patients were coerced into signing stuff, including relocation forms. I do not know how true that is. Do the witnesses know anything about that?

In Midleton and east Cork, we need to respect and humanise this. The building is archaic and it may not be fit for purpose, but the services in that town, which serve all of east Cork, are fit for purpose. I noticed a poster put by a patient in my town last Saturday and it resonated with me. The poster stated, "Improve us not move us". I would appreciate it if the witnesses could answer my questions.

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