Staff shortage prevents opening of care units for disturbed children

There is a queue of disturbed children for places in a new special care unit but they cannot be admitted because there are insufficient…

There is a queue of disturbed children for places in a new special care unit but they cannot be admitted because there are insufficient staff to operate the unit to full capacity, the High Court heard yesterday.

Just seven children are being catered for at the 24-bed special care unit at Ballydowd, Co Dublin, and because of staff shortages it is not expected that the unit will be able to cater for another eight children before May 2001. There are eight children who require immediate placement, and there is no suitable alternative facility for them.

Similar recruitment problems are expected in relation to a 24bed, high-support unit for disturbed children at Portrane, Co Dublin, which is due for completion in September 2001, Mr Justice Kelly was told.

The situation was "heartbreaking" for care workers and management anxious to see the Ballydowd unit operate to full capacity, Mr Patrick MacEntee SC, for the South Western Area Health Board (SWAHB), said.

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Ms Brid Clarke, assistant chief executive with the SWAHB, said the key problem in making the Ballydowd unit fully operational was the failure to date to attract adequate numbers of staff.

The latest advertising campaign had resulted in 52 applications, of which 12 were shortlisted for interview. Only two had presented for interview and one was recruited.

Further advertising campaigns were planned, including one at a recruitment fair in Finland, and every option to attract staff was being explored. The work was difficult, involving anti-social hours, shift and weekend work, and people could find easier jobs for the same pay, she added.

Ms Clarke said earlier problems in relation to defective glass and locks at the Ballydowd unit, which had delayed its coming into operation, had now been rectified.

Mr Justice Kelly was reviewing progress towards the bringing into operation of the Ballydowd unit. After hearing evidence, the judge said he agreed with Ms Clarke that the position in relation to recruiting staff for both units was "bleak". He said Ballydowd was a state-of-the-art facility which was ready to operate to full capacity were it not for the lack of sufficient staff. It was a sorry situation where dozens of children required such a facility, but it could cater for only eight.

He believed the SWAHB was doing its best and could do no more. He would review the matter again in mid-2001.