Mental patients still forced to live in ‘deplorable’ conditions
In a report by the Irish Psychiatric Association, conditions in the hospitals, including St Ita’s and St Brendan’s in Dublin, St Joesph’s in Co Limerick and St Senan’s in Co Wexford, were dubbed as “Dickensian, deplorable and appalling”.
However, little action has since been taken to move residents into community care.
The Lie of the Land report, giving details of inspections carried out in 2007, painted a bleak picture of the conditions mental health patients are being forced to live in.
It highlighted poor sanitary facilities, curtains falling down, cold, leaky and damp buildings, and slammed the continued admittance of patients to “obsolete vestiges of the Victorian asylums” as “entirely unacceptable”.
In particular, the report urged that St Loman’s in Mullingar be closed down immediately.
But the Health Service Executive (HSE) confirmed the hospital, which houses 126 patients in a building which dates from 1855, is open for business and still accepting referrals.
No decision, it said, has yet been made on a closure plan for the Westmeath facility.
According to a statement last week by Minister for mental health, John Maloney, a closure plan has been developed for St Senan’s in Co Wexford, but 82 residents still remain in the hospital, where, according to the report, “Dickensian conditions prevail”.
The female admission ward was a “black spot” in the report of the Inspector of Mental Hospitals, 2003, when it was among eight services identified as being “unacceptable for the care and treatment of patients because of seriously unsatisfactory conditions”.
Similarly, St Joseph’s in Limerick, which the inspector said had “appalling conditions,” remains open.
A closure plan for St Ita’s has been developed but no timeframe or resources have been provided for its implementation while according to the HSE, new mental health facilities will be developed on the St Brendan’s site as part of phase one of this project.
Inspector’s comments from the Lie of the Land report:
“Vast sums of money are spent annually on maintenance — roofs, windows, replacing the lift. The building has been described as a monstrosity by those that work there. It was stated to be cold, leaky and damp with the dignity of patients compromised and staff morale low... Dickensian conditions prevail.”
”Apart from the admission units, the conditions in areas of St Loman’s Hospital remained very poor with damp, peeling paint, tiles lifting on floors, poor sanitary facilities, curtains falling down and drab and institutional-style furnishings and decor. A significantly large number of these areas were dirty, including sluice rooms and bathrooms and toilets. In short, the conditions that people with enduring mental illness have to live in permanently in St Loman’s Hospital were deplorable... every effort must be made to close the hospital immediately.”
”Once again the conditions found on inspection in St Brendan’s Hospital were extremely poor. Admissions to St Brendan’s were due to cease with the opening of the unit in Connolly Hospital (scheduled for February 2008)... which despite multiple start dates had not yet fully opened.”
”Once again, the conditions in the hospital were poor. There was damp, paint was peeling and some areas were dirty, although a painting schedule had been provided. In one ward, residents’ clothing had been stored on open rails in the ward as there was not enough wardrobe space. There had been no advance in 2007 in the development of a new acute unit in Beaumont Hospital (to replace facilities at St Ita’s).”
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