Crisis predicted in mental health

The loss of up to 400 psychiatric nurses under the Government’s early retirement scheme will lead to “pandemonium” in the mental health service, the Psychiatric Nurses Association has warned.

A survey of association members has shown that some 9 per cent or up to 400 nurses will retire from the psychiatric services by the end of this month.

It will not be possible to maintain services with this rate of attrition and vulnerable patients will be put at increased risk of suicide, association general secretary Des Kavanagh said.

"We are facing the horrendous prospect of leaving mentally vulnerable people without any services. It would be reasonable to forecast that there will be an increase in the suicide rates."

The Health Service Executive (HSE) had perpetuated a myth that the reorganisation of the service away from the old mental hospitals meant there was more flexibility in relation to staffing, Mr Kavanagh said.

"The HSE throws out this line that they are closing old residential beds, but these cuts are impacting on community nursing, the old hospitals are already closeD. What they are doing is cutting to shreds the fledgling community nursing service."

The departures were in addition to 1,200 psychiatric staff who have left in the last two years. The service would be no longer sustainable given that the HSE was also looking for additional efficiency cuts of 4-5 per cent which equated up to €35 million in cuts, Mr Kavanagh said.

The survey indicated that there would be an unsustainable loss of nurses in all parts in of the country. The north Dublin mental health services currently had 38 nursing vacancies and not enough beds for the patients who needed them. In east Galway nurse numbers would be reduced from 317 to 200 by the end of the month. In Roscommon numbers of nurses had fallen from 116 to 78 since 2009 and 15 more than were expected to leave at the end of February.

In Monaghan there had been no replacement of retiring community staff. In Clare nursing numbers had fallen from 214 to 163 since 2009, with six more expected to retire. In Limerick numbers were down from 285 to 217 since 2009 and 18 more have signalled they will retire at the end of the month.

"Against this background, any talk of development enhanced preventative and primary care services is nonsense when we cannot maintain core services," Mr Kavanagh said.