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KERRY MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES has confirmed that residents will move into Deer Lodge, Killarney, on July 11. In September, Killarney Advertiser highlighted how members of the Kerry branch of the Psychiatric Nurses’ Association were concerned that the brand-new €13 million facility was lying idle.

There has this week been a broad welcome for the opening of the centre, on St Margaret’s Road. “Once open, it will be a facility which all of Kerry will be proud of. Above all, opening Deer Lodge will be a tremendous move for the people currently living in the out-dated and entirely unsuitable O’Connor Unit,” added the HSE statement. “It will allow for the improved provision of services and therapeutic intervention in rehabilitative and older persons mental health.”

Considerable work and investment has gone into getting Deer Lodge ready for opening, noted the HSE. The opening of Deer Lodge will mean that there will be an overall increase of eight beds in Mental Health Services in Kerry, and there will be a corresponding increase in staff number of 28.5. In terms of the ratio of staff to residents, there will be a total of 65.46 WTE (whole time equivalents) for 40 residents.

An additional €1.15 million has been allocated for staffing to ensure the safe transfer of residents. “Again, management are absolutely confident that this level of staffing will provide a safe and high quality service to the residents of Deer Lodge," stated the HSE.

The Mental Health Commission (MHC) has recently conducted a site visit as part of the registration process and that commission has also reviewed and approved the staff ratios. The Labour Court issued a binding recommendation last month in relation to the opening of this important and much-needed facility.

The issue was referred to the Labour Court after agreement was not reached at the WRC. Following a hearing last month (May), a binding ruling was issued by the Labour Court.

The court found that “the most efficient way forward is for the staff to move to the new facility with immediate effect under the terms of the WRC proposal of April 18”. It also ruled that both parties should “continue to engage with a view to putting final staffing and operational arrangements in place on foot of the six month review envisaged in that proposal”.

At a branch meeting of the Kerry Branch of the Psychiatric Nurses’ Association on June 13, members agreed to cooperate with the transfer of services from the O’Connor Unit, to Deer Lodge on July 11. But members continued to express grave concern in relation to the lack of nurses being assigned to Deer Lodge and believe that this will cause a health and safety issue going forward for both staff and residents.

Mental health nurses commenced the withdrawal from Cluain Fhionnain, Ballydribeen, Killarney, a 30-bed Intellectual Disability Services in Ballydribeen, Killarney, on June 12. Cluain Fhionnain was opened in 2001 when 30 residents from St Finan’s Hospital transferred to the facility in Ballydribeen.

Fifteen residents will remain on in Cluain Fhionnain under the care of a private care provider name Home Instead. It is envisaged that the remaining residents will transfer out to houses in the community over the next 12 to 18 months.

“Thirty nursing staff will transfer back to Kerry mental health services, but regrettably not a single staff member or resource from Cluain Fhionnain will transfer to a community setting or new service initiative in line with a Vision for Change,” said Cormac Williams of the Kerry branch of the Psychiatric Nurses’ Association. “The HSE policy of closure, retreat and retrenchment within Kerry mental health service continues unabated, and services developments like 24/7 Suicide Prevention, 24/7 Crisis Intervention, Respite Care, Outreach remain a distant aspiration rather than a tangible reality within Kerry mental health service. Nurses from Cluain Fhionnain will be reassigned to fill existing vacancies in other parts of the county and reduce overtime costs.

“The PNA believes the management of Kerry mental health service have once again missed a golden opportunity to do something, positive, constructive and worthwhile for both the services and staff of Kerry mental health services with the transfer of Cluain Fhionnain to a private care provider.”
 

 
Above: Pictured are Deer Lodge are Aidan Murphy, Assistant Director of Nursing (ADON) Kerry Mental Health Services (KMHS), Adrian Morrisson, Projects Officer, KMHS, Minister Brendan Griffin, Senator Paul Coghlan, Mary O’Mahony, Area Director of Nursing, KMHS, Helen McEntee, Minister for Mental Health and Older People, Sinead Glennon, Head of Mental Health Cork and Kerry, Christine Carroll, Area Administrator, KMHS, Cllr John Sheehan and Dr Darra Phelan, Consultant Psychiatrist in Rehabilitation.