THE HEALTH Service Executive is spending almost €1,000 a day in providing 24-hour security for one patient at the acute psychiatric unit at Ennis General Hospital.
In response to a Freedom of Information request, the HSE confirmed the daily spend of €940 to a security firm for the man.
The 35-year old Ennis man – suffering from a mental disorder – has been at the unit since July of last year after a District Court judge was not successful in having him admitted to the Central Mental Hospital (CMH) in Dublin.
The HSE confirmed yesterday that since the man’s involuntary admission, it had paid out €334,494 in security costs to the end of June for the patient.
Labour health spokeswoman Jan O’Sullivan TD said yesterday: “This is an example of a terrible waste of money and very bad planning by the HSE.”
The health executive confirmed that €163,247 was spent on security in 2008 and €171,921 from January to the end of June 2009. With a daily spend of €940, the total to the end of July would have climbed to €364,308. Two security personnel are deployed by day and two at night.
At Ennis District Court in July 2008, Judge Joseph Mangan had directed that the man – who cannot be named for legal reasons – be located at the CMH. However, he was taken to the local acute psychiatric unit due to the lack of a bed at the Dublin hospital.
The man was before the District Court on a number of theft charges and had been on remand in custody for almost a year as the court decided if he was mentally fit to plea to the charges. He was the victim of an assault in 1999 when he suffered a serious brain trauma after a concrete block was dropped on his head. As a result, his left-side frontal lobe was wasted. The court was told this causes disturbances in mood, will, understanding and changes in understanding of societal norms.
A member of the HSE West Forum, Brian Meaney (Green), said: “This is a very sad case, but talking from a HSE cost-efficiency point of view, this is not the first time that the HSE is throwing money at something to cover up for poor planning. It cannot be tolerated.”
In response to queries on the issue, the HSE said: “As a matter of policy we never discuss security measures at any facility lest it compromises their effectiveness nor would we comment out of respect for patient privacy, dignity and confidentiality if security had to be provided for a particular patient.”
Asked how much it would cost a day to accommodate a patient at the Dublin hospital, a HSE spokeswoman said this figure was not available. The CMH had 99 beds – 93 inpatient and six hostel beds – and an annual budget of €21 million, but it also provided an outreach programme for the prison service from this allocation.
She added that despite a threat by the CMH to stop taking admissions earlier this summer due to a shortage of nursing staff, admissions to the hospital were continuing, its capacity had not been reduced and shifts were being filled by overtime.