Patients’ money used to pay priest for Mass

Nursing staff at a HSE psychiatric facility used the money of elderly patients to pay a priest for saying Mass and to buy items such as crockery, even though the HSE is supposed to fund such purchases.

The money was also used to buy thermometers, nail clippers, detergent, shampoo, and occupational therapy items after it was collected from patients, most of whom lacked the capacity for consent, according to the Mental Health Commission.

Commission inspectors discovered the practice during an unannounced inspection of Blackwater House, a mental health inpatient facility on the outskirts of Monaghan.