Seanad debates
Tuesday, 4 February 2003
Adjournment Matters. - Hospital Services.
2:30 pm
Tom Morrissey (Progressive Democrats)
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Prior to the Christmas recess I tabled a similar motion about the conditions obtaining in unit nine of James Connolly Memorial Hospital, Blanchardstown. At that time, I was informed in the reply that a new wing was being built and that unit nine would be accommodated within the new building. We were also told that the Inspector of Mental Hospitals considered unit nine as an inappropriate facility for housing this type of patient. Following that, we were looking forward to unit nine, the psychiatric division, moving into the new general hospital.
However, I have tabled this matter for the Adjournment debate today because it has come to my notice that the new development may not happen for some time. I understand that the matter will come before the Labour Relations Commission next Friday. That is because, following an examination of the new building, the Psychiatric Nurses Organisation found that it has not been built to an appropriate specification for housing mentally ill patients, let alone those who are dangerously ill.
For example, the glass in the unit's doors and windows is the same type as that fitted in a general hospital and a proper observation deck has not been built. In addition, the needs of the psychiatric division have not been incorporated into the hospital's design by the architects. I accept there might be problems with the management of the health board but it is quite serious for something like that to occur at this stage of the development. I would ask the Minister to examine the matter and I look forward to his response.
Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator Morrissey for raising this matter on the Adjournment. One of the objectives under the programme for Government, An Action Programme for the Millennium, is to improve mental health services. Advancement in the standards of care for psychiatric patients remains at the heart of developing and improving psychiatric services, as set out in the report, Planning for the Future, published in 1984.
The thrust of this report recommended the establishment of a comprehensive, community-oriented mental health service as an alternative to institutional care for persons with mental illness. The shift from a predominantly hospital-based service to a service delivered to patients in the community, with the least disruption to their daily lives, has taken place with significant improvements in standards of patient care.
Acute psychiatric in-patient services for area six of the Eastern Regional Health Authority are currently being delivered from unit nine at James Connolly Memorial Hospital, which has 22 beds. In his report for the year ended 31 December 2001, the Inspector of Mental Hospitals noted that this unit was unsuited for its purpose and that the shortcomings of the unit had resulted in unsatisfactory conditions for service users and considerable difficulties for staff working in the unit. The inspector also noted that the unit was structurally and decoratively poor with a temporary add-on structure providing bathroom facilities for female patients.
This unit will be replaced by a new psychiatric unit in the new hospital development which is currently nearing completion. Patients in unit nine will be relocated to the new unit, which will provide improved patient facilities and services. The new unit will be a 56-bed one comprising 44 acute psychiatric beds, six high observation beds and six psychiatry of old age beds. It is envisaged that patients from a 22-bed unit at St. Brendan's Hospital will also move to the new unit.
I am informed by the Northern Area Health Board that it is engaged in discussions with the staff in relation to this process and a snag list is being compiled and is to be discussed at a meeting to be held later this week. I understand that the transition programme to the new acute psychiatric unit is on schedule and a programme of handover dates is being followed. Working groups are working closely with the commissioning group and the project management team. This is the process which has been put in place to ensure the smooth transition from the old hospital to the new buildings. All matters which need attention, including matters relating to the psychiatric unit, are being dealt with within this process.
In relation to security matters, the Northern Area Health Board has advised that a security team is permanently in place at James Connolly Memorial Hospital, Blanchardstown. Security personnel patrol the hospital complex 24 hours a day, every day. The hospital recently appointed a full-time head of security to co-ordinate and manage security on the complex. The existing psychiatric unit is constantly monitored by the security team at the hospital and the nurses there carry personal security alarms which, when activated, alert security and the assistant director of nursing on duty.
I am informed by the Northern Area Health Board that the new psychiatric unit is spacious, bright and provides an expanded range of facilities for patients. In the interests of patient care I hope that all interested parties will co-operate with the process now initiated by the health board to progress the opening of the new unit. In this context, I will raise with the Northern Area Health Board the concerns mentioned by Senator Morrissey.
Tom Morrissey (Progressive Democrats)
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I thank the Minister of State.
The Seanad adjourned at 5.25 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 5 February 2003.