Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

With regard to the Mental Health Commission report, particularly in respect of CHO area 3, the mid-west, the acute psychiatric unit in Ennis had a compliance rate of 73% and that in Limerick had a rate of 72%. This is very disappointing. It relates to pressure of work, old infrastructure and staff shortages. I do not believe it relates to professionalism. The shortcomings relate to cleanliness, of course, but also to a lack of dignity, privacy, respect and safety. I refer not only to the safety of patients but also to the safety of staff. The contributing factors are the volume of acute admissions and the lack of inpatient beds. Ireland has 22 beds per 100,000 members of the population whereas the EU average is 70. The Joint Committee on the Future of Mental Health Care recommended that the ratio be increased to 50:100,000 by 2021, and to 70:100,000 in 2023. There is a great need for capital investment to improve our infrastructure. With our improved infrastructure, we will attract staff into our service. Unfortunately, we are not doing that at present.

Not only does Ennis cover the catchment area of County Clare but also the catchment area of south Tipperary since the acute unit in south Tipperary was closed a number of years ago. Unfortunately, the bed complement in Ennis has not increased even though the catchment area has.

Nationally there are 100 vacancies for permanent consultant psychiatric posts. This can lead only to a reduction in services. Some posts are filled by agency staff who are transient locums, and this leads to a lack of continuity and tenure that does not allow the service to develop.

Some posts are filled by agency staff who are transient locums. This leads to a lack of continuity and tenure, which does not allow the service to develop. It is only filling a gap. In other cases, non-specialists are acting up to fill a gap. That is not an ideal solution and not the solution to the staffing crisis. The other issues that pertain are in respect of community services. Community psychiatric services are lacking community nurses, occupational therapy, psychological therapy, counselling and social work support. This also pertains to the Kilrush area, where there is a great lack of staff within the community team. This is unsustainable and also leads to an over-prescription of medication. Instead of talk therapy, we are prescribing medication, quite often unnecessarily.

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