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EchoLive.ie, 16 Jun
Cork county councillor says St Stephen’s is an isolated hospital campus
with very poor connectivity to the nearest village.
HSE urged to review plan for mental health facility on Cork hospital
grounds
Proposals by the HSE to develop a 50-bed set of residential mental
health facilities on the grounds of St Stephen's Hospital in Glanmire
have been challenged Picture: Denis Scannell.
Amy Campbell
THE HSE has been encouraged to reconsider plans for a 50-bed
residential facility on the grounds of St Stephen’s Hospital in Cork.
Social Democrats councillor for East Cork Liam Quaide and Green Party
TD for Dublin Central Neasa Hourigan met the recently appointed HSE
regional executive officer for the Southwest, DrAndy Phillips, to
discuss concerns about mental health services in Cork.
They challenged proposals by the HSE to develop a 50-bed set of
residential mental health facilities on the grounds of the Glanmire
hospital.
The projected build cost for the new facility is approximately is
€64.12m.
The new purpose built facility will consist of five units with 10
single ensuite rooms, divided into households to facilitate resident
centred and directed care for services such as older persons,
continuing care, and rehabilitation.
Therapy services
The planned facility also provides for a range of therapy services.
Mr Quaide said St Stephen’s is an isolated hospital campus with very
poor connectivity to the nearest village.
“The locating of continuing care and rehabilitation mental health
residences on this campus is clearly at odds with the core tenet of
community living in ‘A Vision for Change’ and the HSE’s Model of Care
for People with Severe and Enduring Mental Illness and Complex Needs,”
said Mr Quaide.
He told The Echo that a €64m investment in this large, centralised
service on a hospital campus “will necessarily take funding from the
development of community mental health residences in towns where
currently no such services exist, such as Cobh and Clonakilty”.
“The advantage for the HSE of the St Stephen’s project would appear to
be the centralising of continuing-care staffing costs in one location,
where clients would be referred from outside as well as within the
local HSE Community Mental Health team catchment,”Mr Quaide added.
“However, there are clear disadvantages to the client group in terms of
limited community integration, detachment from local supports, and a
potential for institutionalised care.”
Mr Quaide and Ms Hourigan asked Dr Phillips to reconsider this St
Stephen’s proposal before the HSE submits a planning application on it.
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