Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, I thank Deputy MacSharry for raising this issue. The rehabilitation and recovery mental health unit, formerly known as the Alzheimer’s unit, is located within the grounds of St. John's Community Hospital, Sligo, and serves patients with both dementia-related illness and mental health difficulties, as the Deputy has said. The Mental Health Commission carried out an inspection report on this unit on 17 November 2016. The inspection report highlighted that the rehabilitation and recovery mental health unit did not operate as a rehabilitation unit but as a continuing care unit, with a number of residents inappropriately placed there. Care and treatment was limited to that provided by a nursing staff and general practitioner, GP, only, with a lack of further clinicians available. There was no consultant psychiatrist or multidisciplinary team available for the approved centre. The Mental Health Commission approved registration of this unit in November 2016 on the basis of two conditions. These were that there would be no further new admissions or transfers of persons to the unit, and that the needs of the current residents of unit were assessed and residents were appropriately placed in accordance with this by 31 December 2016. As a result, no new patients have been admitted to the unit since 21 November 2016. Many residents have since been transferred to more appropriate care and facilities. By the end of March 2018, all remaining residents will be transferred to other placements more appropriate to their care needs. The HSE has assured the Minister of State, Deputy Daly, that all transitions will be fully inclusive and will respect the individual needs of the residents involved. This is also in keeping with the Irish National Dementia Strategy 2014.

The closure of this unit is in line with the mental health policy, A Vision for Change, which set out a comprehensive policy framework for the development of mental health services. It recommends a move away from the traditional institutional based model of care to a more patient-centred, flexible and community based service, where the need for hospital admission is reduced while still providing inpatient care, as appropriate. The closure of this unit creates further opportunity to develop additional services which will be available to more people in their homes and other community care settings in Sligo. This Government has prioritised the reform and resourcing of our mental health services in line with A Vision for Change. This can be seen in the mental health budget increase from €711 million in 2012 to over €910 million in 2018, an increase of around €200 million, or 28%, in six years.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I will come back in on some of the concerns he has raised.

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