Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this matter on the Adjournment.

The Laurel unit in Cherry Orchard Hospital is under threat of closure, which means the 19 patients currently being looked after there are to be moved to other units within the campus. It is important to note that the same process was engaged in last year when it was proposed that the Beech unit would be closed. Eventually, it was agreed to keep that unit open. The danger now is that we will have this crisis on a recurring basis and unit after unit will be targeted, which is very unfair.

The 19 people who are in this unit are high dependency and have various conditions, including Alzheimer's. Some are blind and some have had strokes. These people are in no state to be moved, nor should they. They are dependent on knowing a familiar environment and familiar things around them. They depend on knowing the nurses and carers who look after them on a regular basis. For people with limited mobility and capacity to find their way around, they will be completely disorientated if they are moved to a new unit.

Some of the patients have been in this unit for up to ten years. They have learned to cope with their surroundings and familiar items of furniture. This gives them some independence. They are able to manage to get around a little on their own but in a new and unfamiliar environment they will be confused and upset.

This is what their families are telling me on a constant basis. Their families have come to rely on the fact that the patients are familiar with their surroundings and are happy that the people being cared for are in a comfortable environment where they can move around with some confidence. In many cases, the only voices these people have are through their families. Many of them are not able to speak up for themselves. The family members are extremely concerned at the consequences of the moving of the patients from one unit to another. It is not like moving a mobile patient or someone who is recovering from surgery and will be going home in a short time. These are people for whom the Laurel unit has, effectively, become their home over a number of years.

This is short-term saving with long-term costs, particularly if the patients, when they are moved, are unhappy and confused and find themselves in what they perceive to be a foreign environment. The patients' needs should be put before a very small financial saving. It is time for the Government to address the real issues of our health system by putting the welfare of these patients before a small saving for the health service. Deputy Naughten outlined a number of areas where savings could be made more effectively.

I am urging the Minister to review the decision to close the unit and, in the interest of patient comfort and security, to ensure that adequate staff and carer service is provided. The request is a modest one, in the scheme of things. I understand that only two nurses and two carers are needed to maintain the unit in operation. This is a small investment to ensure the comfort and peace of mind of a number of vulnerable people who, for the most part, have come to be dependent on the familiarity of their surroundings. It will cause real hardship to the patients and their families if the patients are asked to go to a new and different and, to them, foreign environment.

The Minister should look at this from the patients' point of view and not be influenced by the very small financial saving which will have long-term negative consequences for the patients.

See this speech in context