Lynch pledges to ‘pursue’ staff crisis

THE minister of state with responsibility for mental health has pledged to “pursue” the staffing crisis within the mental health services in order to ensure the safety of the services into the future.

Labour’s Kathleen Lynch yesterday urged the HSE to lift the moratorium on recruitment in the mental health sector to allow 100 staff to be taken on.

However, documents obtained by the Irish Examiner show that 100 exemptions granted in 2010 were not been utilised as expected because no additional money was given to local areas to take on staff.

Earlier this year, Martin Rogan, the head of mental health services within the HSE, wrote that the rate at which psychiatric nurses were retiring would make it “impossible to maintain the current suite of services in a safe manner”.

Ms Lynch yesterday visited St Brendan’s Hospital, Grangegorman, to see the temporary arrangements which are in place for five women who have been transferred to a closed unit for the Christmas period. The women had been living on an open ward, which was shut due to staff shortages.

During the visit, the minister met with most of the women involved and said she was satisfied they are being very well cared for.

“We are all aware that St Brendan’s is home to these women and I regret it was necessary at all to relocate them,” she said. “However, every effort has genuinely been made to keep the disruption for them to a minimum. I have spoken to the patients and the staff and I am satisfied, in the circumstances, the best possible arrangements have been put in place,” she said.