Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise directly with the Minister the question of what action will be taken by him, the Department of Health and the HSE in respect of St. Vincent's Community Nursing Unit in Mountmellick in order that it can admit patients again.

Some weeks ago I received a telephone call from a lady whose elderly mother was due to go in for respite care the following Tuesday. This was on the previous Thursday and they were told the elderly woman could not come in. The daughter asked what would happen and she was told that the woman could go to St. Brigid's Hospital in Shaen in the interim. However, works are under way in St. Brigid's Hospital in Shaen as well. That In itself is a good thing but it meant there was nowhere for the woman to go at the time.

Word filtered out and hit the local media sometime later. Patients were being told on a one-to-one basis and it would have been far better if personnel had been more upfront about it at the beginning rather than people picking it up through the grapevine. It was a bombshell when this information broke, but some were aware of it at that point.

The main issue has been referred to and well documented. There are some large wards in these facilities and HIQA has said there was a lack of dignity for patients. That should not be the case. I know it will cost money to correct. We have had difficulties in Shaen and Abbeyleix in recent years as well as difficulties in the Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise. All of this information has been filtering into every HSE hospital in the county. This is undermining public confidence in the HSE. It is our job to help us restore confidence in these institutions. They have served people well in the past and we want them to continue operating. The fact that Mountmellick has been closed for admissions in recent times is causing difficulties in the Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise due to delayed discharges. That issue needs to be raised also.

HIQA pointed to some good things in Mountmellick. The report stated that hygiene, cleaning and many other things under the control of the staff in respect of the environment were working well. It is not all bad news, but we want to eliminate the problems.

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