Central Mental Hospital opening delayed again over staffing issues

The opening of the new Central Mental Hospital (CMH), the construction of which was completed two years ago, has been delayed until the autumn at earliest due to disputes between the HSE and staff.

The hospital in Portrane, north Co Dublin, will replace the existing CMH in Dundrum, which was built in the 1850s and has been frequently criticised as an unsuitable place to treat patients.

The CMH is the State’s only forensic mental hospital and is responsible for treating some of the most violent offenders who come before the courts. There is typically a long waiting list for admission, meaning many severely mentally ill patients are confined in prisons.

Building work on the Portrane facility was completed in 2020 at a cost of €170 million, making it the State’s largest capital health project aside from the National Children’s Hospital. It will eventually have 170 beds, 72 more than the total available in Dundrum.

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There is no confirmed opening date for the hospital. The HSE had recently said it would open in the middle of this year. It revised that to an estimated opening date in the third quarter of this year when asked on Monday.

Health sources said this is optimistic as each staff member will have to undergo a three-month induction course and there is little sign of these starting soon. A HSE spokesman said a process is under way “to finalise the training for staff and this will be ongoing in the coming months”.

It is understood that the hospital will open in stages, with 130 beds coming online first followed by the remaining 40 at a later date.

The main barrier to opening the new facilities is disagreement between HSE management and staff over staffing for the facility. Staff have raised concerns there will not be enough nurses to safely cover the much larger facility.

A spokesman for the Psychiatric Nurses’ Association (PNA) said there are “a number of outstanding issues relating to staffing and operational matters to be addressed”. It said it is in “positive engagement with the HSE to resolve these issues in order that the hospital open as soon as possible”. The PNA has previously said it believes an extra 200 nurses will be required for the facility.

It is understood some staff have also expressed concerns about the new state-of-the art security systems in Portrane.

Earlier this month, the Mental Health Commission found the existing facility in Dundrum is “not fit for purpose”. It said many of the issues are due to the unsuitable premises that the hospital continues to operate in.