Nurses at Limerick psychiatric hospital seek €4,640 to relocate

Nurses at St Joseph's Psychiatric Hospital in Limerick are seeking €4,640 in compensation to relocate to a new facility.

The demand, along with a number of other issues highlighted by the Psychiatric Nurses' Association (PNA), is preventing the Mid-Western Health Board from relocating 40 patients from the hospital's St Teresa's ward to a refurbished facility less than four miles away at Parteen, Co Clare.

The facility - bought for €1.25 million by the health board - is lying idle after recently being refurbished at a cost of €5 million.

In his most recent report, the inspector of mental hospitals, Dr Dermot Walsh, was scathing in his criticism of a number of wards at the 19th-century St Joseph's hospital, including St Teresa's ward.

Dr Walsh said living conditions for long-stay patients "are unacceptable, and alternative community-based accommodation should be provided as soon as possible". He said St Teresa's ward was overcrowded and deteriorating.

Over the past 15 years, numbers at the hospital have been reduced by 650 to the current number of 150. The majority of patients in the ward are over 70.

A health board spokesman said a compensation package had been offered to the staff concerned.

However, the PNA has refused the offer, ranging from just over €3,000 to just under €4,000 per person. A similar compensation deal was approved to allow the closure of Ennis's Our Lady's Psychiatric Hospital last year.

Staff and management were due to hold talks yesterday under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission but the meeting was postponed until January 8th.

The health board spokesman said intense negotiations would continue between management and staff in the coming weeks to try to secure an agreement.