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A TEENAGER SPENT at least two weeks in an adult psychiatric ward in a room barely bigger than their bed, according to a letter sent to An Taoiseach’s office.
A HSE staff member said that the child had been sent to the adult psychiatric ward in the Department of Psychiatry of Waterford Regional Hospital for “fourteen nights and fourteen days”.
The staff member, consultant paediatric psychiatrist Kieran Moore, said that the patient’s room was “barely bigger than his/her bed” and that they have been “specialised 24-hours a day by a nurse who is sitting on a chair in the room or at the doorway”.
The letter, released to TheJournal.ie under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI), continues:
The patient has no access to education. He/she has not been outside the hospital grounds for 14 days, there is no therapy occurring, no occupational therapy, no psychological intervention, no speech and language therapy, and no peer support or therapy.
Moore told TheJournal.ie that this wasn’t the first such case at the psychiatric ward.
“There’s no clinical governance structure in terms of what’s safe,” he said, suggesting that a look at the management structure – and the possible appointment of a ‘bed manager’ as one solution.
The psychiatrist’s letter was received by the Minister of State for Defence Paul Kehoe (who represents Wexford), and it was brought it to the attention of the Minister for Health and Older People Helen McEntee on the 17 January of this year.
Also on the letter’s mailing list was the Taoiseach’s office.
In her reply, also released in an FOI and dated 16 February, the Minister McEntee said that the admission of children to adult psychiatric wards does happen on occasion.
She said that Éist Linn, the child and adolescent unit in Cork City, accepts referrals for patients throughout Cork, Kerry and the South East.
“The HSE has indicated, that a bed became available in Éist Linn Monday 6 February and that the patient was transferred to that facility.”
The Psychiatric Nurses Association has said previously that there is only half the number of required staff at Waterford Regional Hospital’s Department of Psychiatry.
A lack of staff, and a shortage of beds have resulted in patients being placed on chairs and beds in corridors of the department due to a lack of capacity.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that a 16-year-old girl spent the night in a chair at the adult unit of Waterford Regional Hospital’s Department of Psychiatry as there were no beds available in either acute ward.
Although the department is only licensed to care for 44 patients, the unit is often over that number because of increased demand and referrals from the A&E unit at the main hospital.
The HSE has referred queries in relation to Waterford Regional Hospital’s Department of Psychiatry to the hospital. TheJournal.ie is awaiting a reply.
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A mess left behind by the present taoiseach, well done leo varadkar.
@@mdmak33: lets all be honest and take responsibility about the huge addiction Irish people have to alcohol. That cause a lot of these problems.
@Ladude: It might surprise you, but alcohol addiction is generally a symptom of the underlying problems not being treated. Unfortunately, alcohol compounds the persons problem. I doubt there is a person in the Country who decided to become addicted to anything.
@Carina Clarke: from a very early age in this country we are thought that in times of trouble of times of joy we drink. It’s a celebration, it’s mourning, it’s Friday, it’s Saturday and if it’s not there’s something wrong with you. The underlying problem in most places is the culture.
@Carina Clarke: it might surprise you I know these things. But drink is still out biggest problem, that might surprise u
Yes, they call them cells!
@Jarlath Murphy: I think the people who are placed in cells are looked after better then the more vulnerable in our society.
@midlandsbased Nail on the head there, you are better off been in jail rather then been homeless. In jail you have 3 meals per day , excellent facilities a gym internet, health care which must be tops while you have someone in ur charge! Its warm , comfortable & with NO BILLS!!
Enda walks away as if all is well. Homeless crisis, Maurice McCabe put thru hell and Garda management corruption and children being put in unsuitable places.
Leo should just get back in the closet, a real closet that is so we spared more lies that they will solve everything. Coveney should be killed by the media for his false lies about his commitment to housing department. The only winner from the new housing department so far is Coveney being paid a senior ministerial salary for complete incompetence & being moved into cushy foreign department(so he spared the embarrarrment of his July deadline & homeless kids still suffer)with endless jaunts for himself and wife of course paid by us like champagne socialist Eamon Gilmore & his greedy wifes nepotism 6 figure job & jaunts.
@abcyz: ahh but you forgot about Mary Mitchell O’Connor and her demotion with a 16,000 wage increase. And law being changed to help her get her increase. Yet we’ve no time to enact real laws for real change
@Mary Murphy: You couldn’t make the corruption up while MM O’Connor is giving more than 20 months the payment the disabled and carers get to live on at the same time FG won’t reverse the savage fuel allowance cuts but bending over backwards for clueless Miss Piggy
@abcyz: but i don’t see the disabled being elected by the people of this country to run the country. High end jobs require high end prices or else nobody would bother their arses to take up the responsibility.
@Negan: A bit like your hero Seany who was paid a fortune and cost us 34 Billion & STILL not accountable. We paid fortunes in wages to the so called best and we still got monkeys and monkeys over and over again.
Meanwhile certain consultants are free to use mental health facilities for private court related consultations. Is it any wonder the health service is on its knees
HSE “The Evil Empire”formerly lead by our new Taoiseach!Darth Varadkar
I’m sure John Halligan will be along shortly dancing about this.
And you wonder why people with mental problems don’t come forward…..
Stories like this are rife through out the Mental Health Services – patients being placed in units who either are a danger to themselves, or others, due to bad management and culpapble clinical practice.
How many more of these stories have been swept under the carpet?
have your say