CUH’s €15m mental health unit on hold

The HSE had to shelve plans to open a state-of-the-art €15m psychiatric unit at Cork University Hospital last month after unions objected on foot of major concerns over staffing and health and safety.

Among the issues raised by the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) and Siptu in relation to the 50-bed standalone unit were:

nInadequate staffing. The HSE proposed 66 staff to run the unit last September but later revised the figure downwards to 56. The HSE argued that the reduction was justified because plans to designate six beds as “high observation” beds were temporarily ditched. However, the unions argue that they will still be catering for the same number of beds;