Colm Keaveney (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Last week I felt compelled to write to the Mental Health Commission and the Inspectorate of Mental Health Services asking them to carry out an urgent inspection of the psychiatric unit at University Hospital Galway. I was prompted to do so after being contacted by staff and families of patients in the unit. That week the local press in Galway described the unit has being like a war zone. Last week a person in the Health and Safety Authority provided me with a copy of a letter sent to it on behalf of the staff in the unit. It makes for alarming reading and states the ongoing dangerously low staffing levels at the unit continue on a daily basis and on more than one occasion there has been no clinical nurse managers to manage the ward. One clinical nurse manager was recently assigned elsewhere in the community.

Last week, there was a tragic situation when the absence of any security meant a patient was able to abscond from the ward and complete suicide. There was also a very near miss last week when a highly suicidal patient absconded from the ward and was found in the community inflicting self harm. The activities area in the unit was closed last week and remains so. This denies patients access to an area which is part of their holistic recovery plan. Risk assessments submitted to management appear to be ignored. Disclaimers submitted by staff outlining unacceptably short staffing levels also appear to be ignored.

There appears to be no agreement on minimum staffing levels. Morale among the staff appears to be at an all-time low and there is an exceptionally high level of sick leave owing to stress in that location.

The staff to whom I have spoken believe the above factors have been identified since the closure of St. Brigid's Hospital in Ballinasloe. They have been warning about this arrangement and pointed out that this has been an accident waiting to happen. I compliment the staff who have spoken out. Like the Garda whistleblowers, in the face of incredible pressure from senior management and the HSE, they have done a wonderful job in highlighting the consequences of the reconfiguration of the service.

This has happened as a direct result of the closure of the St. Brigid's psychiatric unit and the failure to fill key front-line posts in the region. Since last year some 40% of the posts provided for under A Vision for Change have not been filled under the HSE service plan. Without adequate mental health staff levels in University Hospital Galway and across the community, the unit is simply not fit for purpose. However, in this House earlier this year the Minister of State with responsibility for mental health services made a robust defence in the provision of that service. Is the Minister of State aware of the consequences of these cuts to mental health services in Galway? Is he aware that the House has been warned about them? We were unequivocally advised, however, that this would not happen. Is the Minister of State aware that there is a €3.2 million brand new, ligature-free facility lying idle in Ballinasloe? Despite this, service users in the psychiatric unit have no access to a recreational area, which inhibits them from securing better outcomes in their own recovery.

I appeal to the Minister of State to urgently reconsider reinstating temporarily services at St. Brigid's Hospital in Ballinasloe which would allow us to deal with the overflow. Before I came to the House, staff informed me that they were gravely concerned about the prospect of an intake over the course of a bank holiday weekend in the light of the chronic staffing levels. I appeal to the Minister of State to consider positively the temporary opening of the brand new facility that lies idle in St. Brigid's Hospital in Ballinasloe to deal with the overflow of patients at University Hospital Galway.

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