Mental hospital inspectors call for closure of several units

INSPECTION REPORTS on mental hospitals have called for the closure of some units, while finding overmedication and poor cleaning standards in others.

The Central Mental Hospital in Dublin was among 23 locations covered by the reports released yesterday by the Mental Health Commission, the independent statutory body.

The extent of dirt in two units of the 93-bed Central Mental Hospital was described as “inexcusable”.

Inspectors found “dirt and food particles” on floors of most bedrooms in one unit with “films of dust and dirt” around radiators and skirting boards.

The main concerns were raised about the 19th century building. There was a “struggle” to keep the hospital “habitable” and it was described as having “run-down drab surroundings” with cell-like bedrooms. The hospital has long been expected to relocate to a new site. The report noted it continued to be housed in unsuitable buildings with no information as to where the new hospital would be located.

Concerns were also noted about privacy issues in the toilets of some units. The recruitment embargo also meant vacancies in occupational therapy and psychology posts posed “a serious and considerable strain” to the service.

It was also critical of Dundrum and other hospitals, for the lack of staff training to deal with residents with a mental illness and intellectual disability.

It recommended that two units of St Joseph’s hospital, Limerick, should be closed. They were housed in early 19th-century buildings, which inspectors found to be “unsuitable”, with “cracking and dampness” in parts.

Despite the existence of regulations since 2006, there was “no evidence whatsoever” of real progress in introducing individual care plans, the report stated.

The closure of both wards at St Finbarr’s Hospital in Kerry was recommended by inspectors. The accommodation was “not suited to long-term living” because residents were generally living in dormitories, the report noted.

Of 32 residents, many had been there “for a significant length of time”, with one patient there for up to 10 years.

The institutional accommodation and the fabric of old buildings “were not appropriate” and the centre should be closed, the report found.

Concerns about overmedication were raised in a number of hospitals. An “urgent” consultant-led review of prescribing was called for by inspectors of the 76-bed St Vincent’s Hospital, Fairview in Dublin.

The number of residents prescribed benzodiazepines and hypnotic drugs (sleeping tablets) was very high, the report stated.

It found that more than half of residents in the long-stay units were prescribed “more than one regular anti-psychotic drug”.

A review of medication was also recommended in units at St Luke’s Hospital Clonmel. It found the use of more than one anti-psychotic medication was very high.

Inspectors found a “great sense of inactivity” during a visit to South Lee Mental Health Unit at Cork University Hospital. The unit was “poorly maintained” with “poor cleaning” inspectors said.

Inspections of mental health units took place during 2010.