Want to see how the HSE decides the fate of over 50 mental health patients?
Issued : Tuesday 16 March, 2010
Statement by Phil Prendergast MEP
The reason for the decision to transfer over 50 mental health patients from Tipperary to Limerick, Kilkenny or non-existent community settings is outlined in a document posted on my Facebook page today. (Log in to Facebook to see document.)
It shows the farcical approach to decision-making in the HSE today.
The Option Appraisal Document, which details the 'thinking' behind the decision to close St Michael's Acute Mental Health Unit in Clonmel by the end of the year is little more than a collection of random thoughts.
For instance, in the section that lists the disadvantages of closing the unit, it contains the phrase, "any others?" in brackets. Another sentence tails off with the phrase "expand detail" in brackets. And another says "please add in additional headline difficulties," again in brackets.
There are also obvious omissions:
* There are no costings of any kind - and consequently no cost-benefit analysis
* Not a single statement of fact is supported by reference material
* There is no reference to stakeholder input (because there was no consultation process)
The Option Appraisal document is dated January 6 2010. Just three working days later it became a decision. No one had a chance to consider it.
Why has an organisation famed for bureaucracy ignored proper assessment procedure and best practice in change-management in this case?
I am more convinced than ever that motives other than the best interests of patients or efficiency lie behind this ever-more apparent farce in decision making.
I am calling on Minister for Mental Health John Moloney to immediately take responsibility and defer the St Michael's decision pending a proper assessment.
And he should launch an investigation into what went on in the HSE South in this case. Because tolerance of this sort of practice in the first place is, I believe, the root cause of many of the scandals in our health services.
