FR. FINTAN BRENNAN-
Madam, - I write with reference to the report of the recent Independent Review of Staffing & Skills Mix at St Mary's Residential Services for people with Intellectual Disabilities at Drumcar Co Louth.
There has been much media comment about the absence of inspections of intellectual disability centres. In this respect it should be noted that St Mary's, by commissioning the review by the independent consultants put our centre through a rigourus process of inspection. The consultants had a free rein in relation to the review, they had total access to our service and our staff, and they chose the methodology they would use to conduct the review.
Upon receipt of the report the order accepted its recommendations and committed itself to implementing those recommendations. It shared the report in full widely with staff, parents and friends groups, trade unions, public representatives and official bodies. We also invited the authors of the report to return to St Mary's for a series of public meetings to explain their findings and answer any questions the stakeholders in our service might wish to ask.
As someone who was director of a mental health service, which was subject to statutory inspection, I do not know of any health care agency in this State, which has subjected itself to a similar independent inspection and has been so transparent and public about the entire process.
The Order of St John of God was one of the very first healthcare organisations in this country to embrace the process of quality assurance and so have no difficulty whatsoever with the concept of independent inspections. But we must insist that any such inspections be conducted by an independent competent body ( ie. not a fellow health provider).
The inspections must also be universally applicable to all intellectual disability services, conducted in accordance with universally accepted and agreed professional standards and criteria, and both transparent and public.
Comparisons have been made between the situation at St Ita's, Portrane, and St Mary's, Drumcar. Any simple examination of the facts will demonstrate that while both intellectual disability centres have a similar profile of clients and a similar number of clients, St. Ita's has some 200 more staff than St Mary's.
As a former Provincial of the St John of God Order, I was involved in the negotiations between the voluntary bodies involved in providing services to people with intellectual disabilities, the CEOs of the health boards and the Department of Health which led to the Document "Enhancing the Partnership.
This document paved the way for the voluntary bodies to be funded through the health boards rather than directly by the Department . The discussions were about ensuring equity, transparency, and high standards. No-one who participated anticipated that the process would result in the Department of Health & Children effectively disowning problems that arose in the intellectual disabilities sector, by stating that this is a matter for the local health board, as Minister of State O'Malley is reported to have said in the Dail on January 29th, 2003.
The Order of St John of God has a duty of care to the residents of St Mary's. We have accepted the recommendations of this report in full. We cannot stand over the services currently provided without an immediate increase of 30 extra staff for night duty.
We need to know whether the Department of Health accepts the report and by so doing undertakes to fulfil its obligations to ensure that our services are properly staffed so that our clients can be safe and secure and our staff can discharge their duties in line with their talents and unquestioned commitment. - Yours, etc.
FR. FINTAN BRENNAN-WHITMORE O.H., Director of Services, St. Mary's Drumcar, Co Louth.