Closure of the Female Unit in St. Brendan's Hospital, Grangegorman unacceptable- Costello

14 December 2011

by Cllr Joe Costello

I raised the serious matter of the closure of the Female Open Unit in St. Brendan's Hospital, Grangegorman, with Minister Kathleen Lynch in the Dáil yesterday and asked the Minister to address the situation. I asked the Minister if it would possible to visit the hospital to see the conditions for myself. I am pleased that she agreed to make enquiries to do this and that she announced that she would also visit the hospital herself. This visit will take place tomorrow, Thursday the 15th of December.

The decision by the HSE to amalgamate the Female Open Unit with the Female High Security Unit is unacceptable. There were twelve women in the open unit and nine in the high security unit until Sunday/Monday the 11th/12th of December. All the women in the "Open" unit have been moved out. Five have been transferred to the Secure Unit, which is now filled to capacity.

The proposed closure is for a period of 4 weeks from the 11th/12th of December to the 16th of January. A shortage of staff over the Christmas period is the reason given for the closure. I understand that ten extra staff would be required to keep both units open over the Christmas period, but the public sector embargo prevents recruitment. However, with further staff retirements expected by the end of February 2012 there is concern that the staffing shortage will continue and that the "Open" unit will remain closed.

Staff have contacted management, their union and the Labour Court about the unacceptable situation being presented to them as workers and carers. Serious issues of medical practice arise as voluntary and involuntary patients are now held together in a closed unit.

If the staffing shortage is seasonal and only for four weeks then the HSE should not resort to such unprecedented disturbance and bad practice as they are implementing.

The mix of high risk and low risk patients is contrary to all medical practice and could, indeed, prove problematic for staff and patients. The HSE should find a way to maintain best medical practice either through overtime or by providing additional temporary staff or by transferring all the women who were in the "open" unit to other hostels.

If the HSE cannot find a best practice solution then I believe the Minister should intervene to ensure that the "Open" unit is not closed. This might necessitate a temporary lifting of the embargo on recruitment in the public sector.