Dear Members,

To begin, I hope you are all keeping well and coping in these very difficult times.

These past nine months, due to the pandemic, have been extremely challenging for everyone but in particular frontline workers.

Dear Members,

To begin, I hope you are all keeping well and coping in these very difficult times.

These past nine months, due to the pandemic, have been extremely challenging for everyone but in particular frontline workers.

Apart from this being the Year of The Nurse, the COVID  -19 crisis has brought home to everyone the hard work, dedication and sacrifice that nurses give every day of their working lives.

Unfortunately, it took a pandemic to recognise and appreciate the expertise, commitment, and value of nursing in the health service. Much of the Covid-19 focus has been on the general services but make no mistake about it this virus has had an impact on all our members in the mental health, intellectual disability and ambulance services and how these services are delivered.

The Mental Health Commission published a paper in July which reviewed the data and observations gathered from Irish Mental Health services during Covid-19 from 4th April to 6th July 2020.

Data was collated from 181 residential services compromising of approved centres and 24 hour staffed residencies with a total bed capacity of 3,899 beds. Overall, 28 of the services reported having a resident who was Covid positive, this equates to 15% of these services.

This is a testament to how well this pandemic has been managed overall by the mental health services with their quick response and adaption of services to manage this virus.

It is widely predicted by international experts, Government Ministers, senior HSE management and commentators that one impact of Covid -19 on our community is that we face a tsunami of mental health issues for many years after we emerge from this pandemic. It is a sobering thought that none of us want to see come to pass.

Despite all the concerns expressed regarding the impact of Covid-19 on the mental health of the community, there was no extra funding allocated for mental health in the HSE’s 2020/2021 Winter Plan.  

Move forward and several weeks later an extra €4 billion in spending was allocated to the health budget for 2021 with just €50 million allocated to mental health. Of this €50 million it emerged that €12 million is to support existing levels of services This equates to mental health receiving less than 1% of the overall €4billion budget increase.

The health budget is now €20billion including the additional €4billion increase. Of this mental health has a budget allocation of €1billion which now means that the mental health budget has been reduced from just over 6% to 5%.

This is outrageous and clearly highlights the lack of understanding of our politicians of the inadequacy of our current services or the extent of the growing demands for mental health services at every level.

Reducing the budget by 1% is incomprehensible and a retrograde step especially when it comes just four months after the launch of the latest ten-year Government strategy “Sharing the Vision.

Government must address the deficits in the provision of mental health and prepare  as a matter of urgency  for the impending sharp rise in demand for services in the same manner that the Covid crisis has led to a  build-up of  capacity in the intensive care units and general hospital services.

More than ever, as we emerge from the long, difficult months of Covid-19 and struggle to deal with its consequences, it is time to prioritise and invest in mental health services to respond to the needs of every citizen in this country.

These past nine month have been extremely challenging and stressful for all citizens of the country and in particular frontline workers and their families I want to commend all our members on how they met these challenges with commitment, dedication and pure professionalism.

I would like to wish to wish you all a safe, happy Christmas and a more prosperous new year.

Peter Hughes 

General Secretary

You Can View General Secretary's Address To Conference 2020 Here

The new National Forensic Mental Health Services in Portrane is due to be completed and handed over to the HSE next month.

This is by far the largest capital development of mental health services in the State and is the second largest capital health development in the country, next only to the new children’s hospital. We have also been informed that it has been constructed within budget. Maybe that will be an impetus for many more much needed mental health developments.

The new service will comprise of a 170-bed campus which is over 70 beds more than the current service in Dundrum. Incorporated within is a 120-bed forensic hospital, 10 bed CAMHS unit, 10 bed mental health intellectual disability unit and a 30 bed intensive care rehabilitation unit (ICRU).

There have been monthly engagements under the auspices of the WRC since October 2018 and several local streams feed into this. Engagements have been intense and robust, but overall positive. Some of the critical issues to be addressed are staffing, skill mix, rosters and a number of issues are currently being addressed in WRC Conciliation.

Considering it will take an extra 200 nurses to staff the campus it is envisaged that the service will open on a phased basis. It is expected that the 120-bed forensic hospital will open towards the end of March/April 2021.

However, it is essential that the whole service is opened and fully staffed within a specific timeframe as the specialised CAMHS, Mental Health Intellectual Disability Unit and the Intensive Care Rehabilitation Units are non-existent throughout the country at present.

Also, in relation to the new forensic services.  From the outset of our meetings and discussions with the HSE and the Department of Health we have been insistent that all proceeds from the sale of the very valuable land in Dundrum is protected and ringfenced for investment in the wider mental health services as per Vision for Change policy.  We are continuing to pursue this issue and are awaiting definitive responses on it.

St Vincent’s Hospital, Fairview, a Section 38 provider, has commenced the process in relation the transfer of services to the HSE. It is proposed that the transfer will take place on a phased basis over a four-year period with the first phased planned for quarter one 2021. The proposal is as follows;

Quarter 1 - 2021:

• Psychiatry of Old Age to Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown
• Day hospital service will move to the community which will then have 3-day hospitals for the service.
• Adolescent day hospital to North Great Georges Street

Quarter 4 - 2021

• Adolescent Unit to Connolly Hospital

In 2024 the adult inpatient unit will transfer to a new unit in the Mater Hospital. It is also planned to build a 100-bed mental health facility on the grounds of Fairview hospital.

Negotiations have been ongoing for the past month and we will keep you updated when we have further details

St John of God, a Section 38 Provider for Community Mental Health Services and Intellectual Disability Services are to be transferred to the HSE over the next 12 months to be concluded by 30^th September 2021. We have been informed that this transfer is due to St John of God’s having financial difficulties which is impacting on their ability to maintain the day-to-day provision of services. The transfer of services will require engagement with both St John of God and the HSE. Engagement has commenced in the past month with St John of Gods and we expect to be engaging with the HSE in the very near future. The challenges in the negotiations will be to protect the terms and conditions of our members and to ensure there is no diminution of services. Whereas the transfer of the community mental health service in Cluain Mhuire will be predominantly confined to CHO6, the transfer of the Intellectual Disability Services will be throughout all the CHO areas and will require both national and local engagement to ensure a smooth transition.

We will keep you updated on developments.

Under the leadership of Ms Aisling Culhane, Research and Development Advisor, and Professor Thomas Kearns and Ms Catherine Clune Mulvaney, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, the collaboration with the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery RCSI continues to evolve and develop. Programme evaluations remains extremely positive however unfortunately, a number of programmes were cancelled in Q2 2020, due to COVID 19 and a plan for shorter, more focused webinars was introduced, commencing with “the Summer Series” a number of short webinars provided in the context of the pandemic aimed at promoting self-care and wellbeing for colleagues working at the coal face and acknowledging nurses great strengths and compassion.

These included topics of mindfulness, the benefits of crafting and exercise, yoga, and negotiating a post COVID-19 world for families.

We have just completed  the Autumn / Winter Series, and in recognition that 2020 International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife has not turned out anything like we had imagined, the PNA and the Faculty of Nursing RCSI have subsidised these Continuous Professional Development webinars for our members and provided them free of charge.

The current series offered a range of programmes which included: Dual Diagnosis - Mental Health and Addictions, Frailty and Mental Health in Older People, Embedding Trauma Informed Care into Mental Health Nursing Practice, Psychosocial Interventions, Mental Health Assessment, Metabolic Syndrome, Chronic Disease Management and Mental Health and Physical Health Screening for People with Mental Illness. The delivery of the collaboration’s programmes by clinical experts is a key feature of this initiative, with the majority of classes delivered by PNA members and Associates. The current series has proven to be extremely popular with numerous requests for follow up and large attendances at the live sessions with up to 65 attendees recently. 

It  gives me great pleasure to refer to the staging of the play A FACE IN THE CROWD together with the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery and REACH RCSI. This initiative a PNA first was written by Mr Niall O’Muiri, a former PNA member and branch official. The play originated in Co Wexford, with the support of Wexford Mental Health Association and was co-created with service-users. The play authentically depicted the lived experiences of service users living with mental illness and themes of isolation, despair, loneliness, depression, hope, comfort, respite and recovery had the audience transfixed. Two performances of the play were staged, with an afternoon performance for local schools and an evening performance for the general public. The Faculty generously offered this event free of charge to all attendees. The 4th, 5th and 6th year students from Presentation Secondary, CBS Synge St., CBS Westland Row and CBS James St. attended the play. Given the powerful and honest portrayal of living with a mental illness, and the potential of this to stimulate questions or concerns for the students, a professionally facilitated follow-up mental health workshop was hosted the following day, where key themes could be explored and discussed in a safe environment. Teachers, from each of the schools, accompanied students to the workshop and this aspect of the play was positively evaluated by both the students and the teachers. The EVENING PERFORMANCE staged to a full house where over 400 people attended .RTE’s Mr Ray D’arcy welcomed the audience, and provided the context to the play highlighting in particular the importance of conversations on mental health and ill health, we are particularly grateful to key collaborators in the project Professor Thomas Kearns, Ms Catherine Clune Mulvaney Faculty of Nursing RCSI, Ms Maria Kelly REACH RCSI, Mr Niall O Muiri Playwright the support and catering staff of RCSI and Sponsors Cornmarket . We especially wish to acknowledge the storytellers, whose experience of living with mental distress were shared on stage and for their attendance and support on the night.

You Can view Photos of the Event Here