Experts say mental hospital must close

A PSYCHIATRIC hospital serving a major city is unfit for purpose and should be closed down, experts have warned.

It is the second year in a row that the Mental Health Commission has called for the winding up of St Joseph’s Hospital in Limerick, which is housed in a 187-year-old building first earmarked for closure in 2002.

Two of the four wards were closed last year and the HSE said yesterday that the number of remaining beds would be reduced to 16 by the end of March with the hope of closing completely by the end of the year.