Bedroom area of Cork mental health unit locked until 9.30pm

The Mental Health Commission's chief executive  John Farrelly. Picture: Jason Clarke

The Mental Health Commission has criticised a Cork city mental health unit for locking residents' bedroom areas until 9:30pm at night, thus preventing them from sleeping or resting during the day. 

St. Catherine’s Ward, located on the grounds of St. Finbarr’s Hospital on the Douglas Road in Cork, made residents vacate their bedrooms in the morning, according to an inspection report. 

The report also said staffing levels and their skill mix were not sufficient to meet residents' needs, as the centre did not have enough dieticians and speech and language therapists. 

Short staffing also contributed to the bedrooms being locked during the day, and the report also stated there were no curtains on the windows in several bedrooms.

Poor conditions

The Mental Health Commission (MHC) also said the condition of the premises was poor. 

It found no programme of general maintenance, decorative maintenance, cleaning, decontamination or repair of assistive equipment. 

The courtyard area had cigarette butts and litter on the ground. One of the bedrooms had a hole in the wall and chipped paintwork, according to the report.

There was also an area in the centre which smelled of cigarette smoke, and the floor and a plastic chair displayed burn marks.

St Catherine's is a 21-bed centre, and there were 19 residents at the time of the inspection.

The report found the centre was high risk non-compliant on six regulations, despite the fact its compliance with regulations went up from 62% in 2019 to 72% in 2020.

These regulations related to the transfer of residents; privacy; the condition of the premises; ordering, prescribing, storing and administration of medicines; staffing and the admission, transfer, and discharge of patients. 

The centre also had one moderate non-compliance for food safety and one low non-compliance with personal property and possessions.

Lakeview Unit in Naas General Hospital in Kildare was also inspected, and the Mental Health Commission found issues with the space available in the premises as well as the use of electroconvulsive therapy. 

The centre was rated high risk non-compliant on one regulation relating to the premises, and received another five moderate non-compliances.

These moderate non-compliances related to the transfer of residents; the maintenance of records; rules and codes governing the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT); and the admission, transfer and discharge of patients.

While there had been an increase in compliance, up from 62% in 2019 to 72% in 2020, the MHC said that Lakeview was not suitable for the care of people with a mental illness. 

The report said residents did not have sufficient access to personal space or an appropriately-sized communal room, as there was only one sitting room which could not accommodate all residents at full capacity. 

Bed shortages

The Mental Health Commission also warned that due to a lack of beds, some in-patients are not being treated as close to home as possible.

This means that visits from family and loved ones are difficult to arrange. 

The Chief Executive of the Mental Health Commission, John Farrelly, said Lakeview Unit was one of the units experiencing bed shortages.

According to an inspection report, the 29 beds available in Lakeview is not enough for its catchment area of Kildare and west Wicklow, which has a population exceeding 241,538. 

The hospital had to arrange for some patients to be accommodated 50km away in the Department of Psychiatry in Portlaoise.

Mr Farrelly said that patients dealing with a serious mental illness need visits from loved ones.

“When people are acutely ill and undergoing treatment, ideally they should ideally remain within their locality. Maintaining close linkages with friends, family and their community during their illness contributes to a reduction in stigmatization of patients in their community and helps with recovery."