FIVE long-term patients at St Brendan’s Hospital, in Grangegorman, Dublin who are being moved from their open ward to a secure unit over Christmas will be allowed to move freely, the Health Service Executive (HSE) has said.
Responding to criticism by mental health advocates of the women’s relocation to a “lock up” facility, which has been blamed on a shortage of nursing staff, the executive said the women would still be allowed to come and go as they pleased.
The women, were moved yesterday and Monday to the secure unit which already houses six other patients.
This locked ward, which is classified as a low security unit, is a dormitory style facility with the capacity for 12 patients, with two toilet cubicles and two showers.
All beds have screen curtains, the HSE pointed out in a statement.
The five women have been separated from seven of their fellow open unit residents who have been relocated to community hostels or other units.
The HSE said the move was due to a staff shortage over the holidays.
“These measures are necessary to ensure continuity of services and to ensure safe staff complements to care for all residents and patients over this period,” it said.
The five women will return to their permanent residence after a five week period ending January 16th.
St Brendan’s staff safety representative Robert Redmond claimed the move had been implemented without following the correct protocol. Under the Mental Health Act 2001, all voluntary patients who are to be moved to locked wards must be consulted.
Mr Redmond told RTÉ's LiveLineprogramme yesterday that the patients - who had already decorated their open unit, known as 3B, in preparation for the Christmas celebrations - had indicated they did not wish to move.
However, in a statement, the HSE said medical teams contacted families on Monday and Tuesday of last week “and advised them of the plans to amalgamate these two units. The HSE confirms that consultation was also undertaken with staff”.
The secure unit, known as Unit 0, was described by Mr Redmond as three to four times the size of an average sitting room.
It has a locked door policy, which is designed to protect residents who are identified as a danger to themselves and/or others.