Partial closure of busiest in-patient mental health facility for adolescents will not be reversed until new year

Linn Dara is one of four approved centres in the child and adolescent mental health service (Camhs) and provides intensive inpatient care to children with serious, and, in, some cases, life-threatening, mental illnesses.

The partial closure of the country’s busiest in-patient mental health facility for adolescents will not be reversed until the new year, nurses have been told.

When the HSE decided last May to close 11 of the 24 beds at the Linn Dara facility in West Dublin, the Government said the closure would last at least until September of this year.

The Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) said it had been informed by HSE management it would now be the “new year” before the beds will be reopened.

The PNA said the reason for the partial shutdown remains the same — the crisis in recruiting and retaining psychiatric nurses.

Linn Dara is one of four approved centres in the child and adolescent mental health service (Camhs) and provides intensive inpatient care to children with serious, and, in, some cases, life-threatening, mental illnesses.

The shutdown before the summer sparked widespread alarm, with previous reports in the Irish Examiner detailing the concerns of the Ombudsman for Children Niall Muldoon, Mental Health Reform, the ISPCC, the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland, the Psychological Society of Ireland and Bodywhys (the eating disorders’ association).

In a statement, the PNA said: “At a recent meeting with the HSE, PNA were informed that Linn Dara will not now open until the new year.

“This is extremely disappointing, particularly as PNA was given assurances that the centre would re-open in September. 

It further confirms the growing pressures that mental services are under as a result of the ongoing crisis in the recruitment and retention of nurses.” 

Sinn Féin mental health spokesperson Mark Ward said he received a reply to a parliamentary question last Thursday in which the HSE said it could “not be specific” when the capacity at the unit would increase.

“They could not give a clear timeframe,” the Dublin Mid West TD said. “It was supposed to have been September and now, it seems from what the HSE has told the PNA, that they are kicking the can down the road until the new year.” 

In the reply he received, Kevin Brady, head of HSE Mental Health Services, said the issue at Linn Dara was not funding, but the “hiring and retaining” of staff.

Mr Ward said he was worried at what services those children who were not able to gain access to the specialist, multi-disciplinary care in Linn Dara were getting. He added the three other similar facilities in the country — one in north Dublin, one in Cork and one in Galway — were not working at full capacity.

He said exit interviews by the HSE of psychiatric nurses leaving needed to be conducted to find out why they were going and if anything could be done to keep them.

He said exit interviews that had been done with primary healthcare workers found the cost of living and renting in Dublin was a key reason for leaving, as well as burnout resulting from under-staffed units.

In a statement, the HSE said: “The HSE temporarily reduced capacity at Linn Dara from 24 to 13 beds due to challenges in hiring and retaining nursing staff at levels necessary to operate the inpatient centre at full capacity while maintaining necessary standards of care and safety for patients.

“As recruitment is ongoing, it is not possible to give a specific reopening date for the 11 affected beds. The situation remains under constant review, with the intention to return to full capacity at the earliest opportunity.”