merrion street

Kathleen Lynch TD Minister of State with responsibility for Disability, Equality, Mental Health & Older People, today (15th December 2011) visited St Brendan’s Hospital, Grangegorman to see the temporary arrangements which have been put in place for the patients who have been transferred from Unit 3B for the Christmas period. The Minister was accompanied by Deputies Joe Costello, Derek Keating, Maureen O’Sullivan and Alex White.

During the visit the Minister met with most of the women involved and she is satisfied that they are being very well cared for and are comfortable in their new accommodation, but acknowledges that the move has been somewhat unsettling for them. There have been two very generous offers from private institutions to assist in their care and accommodation over the Christmas period. However, on balance it is felt that the disruption in their lives that would be caused by a move outside the hospital would itself be too great, and their interests have been best protected by the arrangements that have been made for them. The Minister said "we are all aware that St Brendan’s is home to these women and I regret that it was necessary at all to relocate them. However, every effort has genuinely been made to keep the disruption for them to a minimum. The decision to keep them in another ward in St Brendan’s was made after careful clinical assessments were carried out where their individual needs were taken into account. We must remember that these women are familiar with the staff in the hospital some of whom will be transferring with them and they are also comfortable with their general surroundings. I have spoken to the patients and the staff and I am satisfied that in the circumstances the best possible arrangements have been put in place."

The Minister emphasised that she felt "too much has been made about the fact that the ward has a locked door policy. These women will continue to have the freedom to move about on request. The new facility is not a ‘high security lock-down’ as it has been described, but is a low-secure ward, well managed by competent and caring staff who as I have said are familiar to these particular patients".

The Minister concluded that the incident has highlighted the need to explore more fully how mental health services, because of the age profile of staff within the service, has been impacted disproportionately by the staff moratorium. The Minister remarked that "this is an issue that is already the subject of discussions between officials of my Department and the HSE, and I intend to pursue this matter further to achieve an appropriate result in order to ensure the quality and safety of our mental health services into the future."