Roscommon mental health services slammed

Bad behaviour was normalised and then perpetrated by staff across Roscommon mental health services, a damning report has found.

The 44-page HSE report, which was carried out by experts from the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland, was commissioned following allegations of improper sexual contacts at a facility in the county.

It found that mental health services were marked by “control negativity and a culture of blame”.

“Some senior staff normalised bad behaviour; others perpetrated it,” said the report.

The HSE investigation, which focused on nine different mental health facilities in Roscommon, also found an excessive focus on cost-saving “to the detriment of its staff’s working conditions, patient care and patient and staff safety”. As a result, the professional standards underlying patient care were “ignored or allowed to slip”.

The report noted that the professional relationships between some staff members and some senior medical and nursing staff had deteriorated to an extent that they had broken down.

The majority of staff to be interviewed reported that they felt “frustrated, disillusioned and unsupported” within the multidisciplinary team setting, while some staff refused to work with other team members.

During the investigation, a number of staff members alleged that some of those interviewed by the HSE inquiry team were “active participants” in a “malicious campaign of conspiracy”.

The report also drew parallels with the Mid-Staffordshire hospital scandal in Britain in the late 2000s — often cited as the worst hospital scandal in NHS history.

Roscommon head of mental health services Tony Canavan indicated that he would not resign following the publication of the damning external review. He also confirmed that there was no disciplinary action against any staff at this time.

“One of the most difficult aspects of this report is it is very clear about the lack of leadership in the Roscommon mental health service,” said Mr Canavan. “It is also important to view this report in the context of its time period. It was a very difficult financial time and a lot of the services were being curtailed. Nonetheless though, the report is very strong in its criticism of leadership of the service.”

The Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) described the findings as a “shocking indictment of management of the services” and said it was “deeply disappointed” that many of the senior management team are to remain in place.

It also called for a fuller investigation into how the situation in Roscommon was allowed to develop and continue for so long.