Some 190 psychiatric patients at a rundown psychiatric hospital in Ennis, Co Clare are facing into a bleak winter after an ultimatum from nurses that they will not allow the hospital's closure to proceed unless they receive £5,000 each.
The proposed closure of Our Lady's Psychiatric Hospital is part of a £10 million Mid-Western Health Board plan to disperse patients to various state of the art facilities around Clare. Over the past 12 months, many of the facilities have been left idle waiting to accommodate over half of the patients as talks between unions and the Health Board continue.
In his most recent report, the inspector of mental hospitals, Dr Dermot Walsh, stated that conditions in the hospital - which dates back to the 1860s - were "very poor". He stated: "Unsatisfactory conditions prevailed in virtually every one of the in-patient units, so the imminent move would undoubtedly be to the advantage of all concerned".
A package to secure the closure of the hospital was recommended for approval by SIPTU and the Psychiatric Nurses' Association (PNA) over the summer, but was overwhelmingly rejected by the 180 nursing staff at the hospital.
At a meeting between the sides under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission to resolve the impasse, the nurses made the demand for the £5,000 payment. According to the general manager for Clare health services, Mr Seamus McNulty, it is the first time after three years of negotiations that the unions had mentioned the figure of £5,000 in order to go ahead with the dispersal programme.
He said: "It is the only major issue holding up the transfer of patients," a claim disputed by the two unions involved.
As part of the original proposals, nursing staff were offered £2,400 each.
However, Mr McNulty said the health board could not afford to deal with the new demand. He said: "It is funding we haven't got."
All sides are now to go to the Labour Court to resolve the deadlock, though it now looks as if the dispute will not be resolved until the new year.
Mr Des Kavanagh, PNA general secretary, said he was not optimistic at that stage of a resolution. He said a number of issues remained to be resolved in relation to patient care, along with the issue of money.
He acknowledged that the issue of £5,000 was raised only at the last meeting. He said: "It was raised only because there was a precedent recently set in Co Mayo for a £5,000 payment, though there is ambiguity around the form of the payment and at the moment we are investigating that."
A SIPTU spokeswoman said the union proposals were rejected under a number of headings, including staffing levels, travel and money.
