Mental Hospital move will 'stigmatise' patients

Placing the Central Mental Hospital beside a super prison in north Co Dublin will isolate patients and reinforce stigmas liked to mental illness, experts warned the Oireachtas Health Committee today.

The Mental Health Commission and the Irish Mental Health Coalition were speaking to the all-party body after TDs and Senators toured the proposed site of the new facility in Thornton Hall.

The Commission, which inspects licensed mental health hospitals, also said the rural location would impact upon the rehabilitation and recovery of patients.

“This proposal will promote the isolation and exclusion of those admitted to it and is not consistent with best practice or with the contemporary view of mental illness,” said Commission chief Brid Clarke.

Irish Mental Health Coalition chairman John Saunders added: “Relocation beside a proposed prison will reinforce the stigma of mental illness towards patients as well as their families and carers.

“It will also undo significant government efforts to address negative discrimination experienced by mental health patients.”

The coalition is a lobby group for change in mental health services, is comprised of Schizophrenia Ireland, Irish Advocacy Network, Bodywhys and Amnesty Ireland.

Members of the Oireachtas Health Committee also visited the current site of the Central Mental Hospital (CMH) in Dundrum last week.

Committee member Jan O’Sullivan said today of the proposed location in Thornton Hall: “We have a picture of very strong opposition. It’s quite clear to me that this is the wrong decision and should be changed.

“Any decision should be made on the best interests of people and not on money considerations.”

Opposition health spokesman Dr James Reilly said CMH staff and patients didn’t want to move to the new location and many experienced medics may quit rather than relocate.

Labour TD Kathleen Lynch said the Thornton Hall site was geographically isolated for families of patients: “If I was driving from outside Dublin I wouldn’t have found it,” she said.

Fine Gael TD Dan Neville said that unlike the CMH location in Dundrum, the Thornton Hall site was not located near to the Luas, the cinema or supermarkets which would affect the rehabilitation of patients.

“Patient well-being and not cost must be the priority,” he added.

However Fianna Fáil TD Bobby Aylward urged the committee to consider all the facts before making a decision, and he called for an early meeting on the issue with officials from the HSE and the Department of Health.

“This decision is a long way off from being made, given local authority procedures and planning guidelines,” he said.

Committee chairman Sean O Fearghail said that the location of the proposed site in Kilsallaghan “was not Outer Mongolia”.

The all-party body adjourned for its summer break and will revisit the issue again on September 9.