Mental Health Commission drops court action against Cork psychiatric hospital

The withdrawal of the prosecution follows four specific assurances by the HSE

The HSE has pledged to include St Stephen’s in the capital plan for the building of a 50-bed mental health unit. File picture: Dan Linehan

The Mental Health Commission (MHC) has withdrawn its prosecution of the HSE’s St Stephen’s psychiatric hospital in Cork following assurances the commission has received from the HSE, but the commission said it should not have required court action to achieve this.

John Farrelly, CEO of the Mental Health Commission, said after the withdrawal of their prosecution of the HSE: “We really welcome the work of the HSE since we initiated the case, but it should not have required a court case.”