merrion street

Kathleen Lynch, T.D., Minister of State with responsibility for Mental Health, today (30th March 2011) welcomed the temporary transfer of the Mental Health Services  for Older People In Patient Unit at St. Ita’s, Portrane, to a new Community Nursing Unit at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Fairview.

The move, which is part of the process of the implementation of

, will see 25 patients transferred to more appropriate and better accommodation.  The existing unit will now be refurbished and will provide accommodation for the acute admissions unit, pending its transfer to Beaumont Hospital next year.  In due course the refurbished unit will become a dedicated Mental Health Services for Older People unit for North Dublin.

The Minister said that “this Government is committed to the implementation of A Vision for Change and ensuring that mental health patients enjoy optimum care in the most appropriate settings”.

The Minister is particularly pleased that the staff that have been caring for these elderly patients, some for many years, will also transfer to St Vincent’s.  She commended the staff of St. Ita’s who she said “have shown outstanding dedication in ensuring that the transfer of patients has gone so smoothly.  Their efforts have undoubtedly had a hugely beneficial effect, not only on the lives of the patients, but also on the lives of their families and friends.”  She wished staff and patients well and is confident that they will be very happy in their new improved environment.