Joan Freeman (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to bring one issue to the attention of Senators. I want them to think of instances of overcrowding in everyday life. It could be on our buses, on the Luas or in our children's classrooms. While we object to such overcrowding, and it is uncomfortable to say the least, I want Senators to imagine an overcrowded psychiatric ward. I mean a ward where there is enough space for 44 people but, in fact, 50 people have been crammed in. These are people who are in St. Luke's psychiatric unit in Kilkenny. Those residents are not people who attend school, who are in receipt of education or who travel from one space to another. These are people who have enduring illnesses and are in very serious and deep distress. They are crammed into a situation not only where there are not enough beds but where one patient had to sleep on a mattress that had been placed on the floor.

Not only am I thinking of the patients, I am thinking also of the staff who must work in these units. The psychiatric nurses who work in Waterford and Kilkenny have decided to commence an industrial dispute and not to operate non-nursing duties. I applaud them for doing so because we will never ever see an improvement unless people stand up, complain and go on strike. I remember my mother going on strike when I was growing up. Every now and then she would down tools, walk upstairs and read a book on her bed because she was disgusted by something that her husband or children had done. Everyone in the household would then scurry around the house to do something that delighted her again so that she would come back and be a mother to us.This is what those poor unfortunate psychiatric nurses in Waterford and Kilkenny are doing now. They are saying that enough is enough. The HSE talks about the recruitment and retention of staff. Perhaps it should just stop complaining and making excuses and look at the real problem, which is the redeployment of staff there, the use of agency staff, overtime and the reliance on the goodwill of overstretched permanent staff. It is that alone. The psychiatric nurses, both men and women, are asked at the end of a long shift to stay on for longer and it is their goodwill, resilience and care and love for humanity, particularly for the patients in their wards, which make them stay and look after them further. We have to stop this. Once again, I am glad to support the psychiatric nurses in Waterford and Kilkenny. They have my undivided attention. If they would like me to visit to see their desperate situation, I would be happy to do so.