Staff told two Mayo psychiatric units will be shut down - Calleary tells Dáil Éireann closures will have devastating consequences

Tuesday, 24 January 2012 13:56

MAYO Fianna Fáil Deputy Dara Calleary has slammed plans to shut down psychiatric units at St. Joseph’s District Hospital in Ballina and Teach Aisling in Castlebar.

He said staff were informed that unless they could produce what were termed ‘viable alternatives’, the facilities will be closed at the end of February and be transferred to the acute unit at St. Teresa’s, the main mental care unit in the county town.

He stated: “The staff at both units give a superb service. They are selfless in their dedication, not just to their patients but to patients’ families and to the communities which they serve.

“They are absolutely devastated by the consequences of this decision, particularly for the nurses in Ballina, who will be transferred into Castlebar, and for the patients at Teach Aisling, who are a particular kind of patient.

“They will not get the kind of service or attention in a central acute unit that they are getting at present.

“The irony in the case of Teach Aisling is that it is being used by the HSE as a prototype of how services should be delivered.

“In Ballina, the service has ten nurses attached and is currently serving 60 service users. It provides in-care treatment and also provides 24-hour nursing care to individuals with chronic mental illness and supports those in the community with medication and advice.”

Deputy Calleary said HSE management locally have told him it is not a final decision, the authority is informally telling everybody it is.

“The treatment of people in the community in what is geographically the third largest county will suffer.

“The range of services available within the north Mayo community, which are keeping people in north Mayo in their homes, will suffer. The acute unit in St. Teresa’s, which is already under enough stress, will be put under more stress and people will suffer. There is no way around this.

“I know the issue arises because of retirements and I know that the Mayo psychiatric services are suffering more retirements than normal at present. However, the level of retirements is not the same within the Ballina unit. These two units are being closed to ring-fence the acute unit at Castlebar,” he argued.

Labour Party Kathleen Lynch, Minister of State at the Department of Health, stated mental health services in Mayo are currently reviewing their psychiatric services in the context of the recently approved HSE service plan for 2012.

The process includes consultation with service users and consideration of how safe and quality services can be provided within available resources.

The expenditure reductions necessary in 2012 will challenge all areas of the health system to provide continuity of services that are both appropriate and safe for patients.

“As in other care areas, efficiency and other savings will be required from the mental health service nationally which will necessarily involve some rationalisation and reorganisation of services at local and regional level,” she stated.

Deputy Lynch accepted closing down units where people are supported within their own community is not what ‘A Vision for Change’ is about.

“That programme is about maintaining people in their own community and ensuring they stay well within that community. The last thing we want is to have ongoing admissions to acute units,” she added.