Plan to move 26 patients in open setting to locked ward ‘appalling’

Plans to transfer patients with acute mental illness from a large open campus outside Cork city to a city-centre locked ward, have been described as “appalling” by the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA).

Under proposals contained in a draft HSE discussion document outlining the future of mental health services in Cork, 26 patients at St Stephen’s Hospital in Glanmire are set to be transferred to the Mercy University Hospital (MUH). The acute beds at St Stephen’s will then be closed.

The HSE argues the move is in keeping with the national health strategy, A Vision for Change and will happen “on a phased basis”.