Nurses want GP service to pay rent

The union representing nurses at St Finan’s psychiatric hospital in Killarney has complained to the HSE about a private, out-of-hours GP service availing of what the union claims is rent-free accommodation at the hospital.

The union wants the HSE to charge rent for the public hospital and to invest the money into the mental health service in Kerry.

The SouthDoc GP out-of-hours services for the south-west region has had its offices and call centre at St Finan’s in Killarney since 2001, but pays no rent, branch organiser of the Psychiatric Nurses Association Cormac Williams told Michael Fitzgerald, regional manager with the HSE.

“It has come to the association’s attention that the area occupied [including two entire wards building] is currently being offered rent-free to South Doc by the HSE South,” said Mr Williams.

The GP company is also using “all facilities” of the hospital, including water, electricity, heating, and parking “free of charge”.

Mental health services in Kerry were “sinking faster than the Titanic” and had seen the systematic closure or reduction of institutional and community mental health services over the past year, Mr Williams said, and many more cutbacks and closures were planned.

However, the HSE yesterday said it had a “services agreement” with SouthDoc to provide out-of-hours care to the people of the region. The HSE provided funding every year for that service and the provision of office space was part of the agreement with the doctors.

The HSE’s plans were to close the mostly empty St Finan’s hospital.

SouthDoc did not respond to the nurses’ calls at the time of going to press.