The State’s new Central Mental Hospital (CMH) is part of a “fundamental shift in mindset” to a health-focused model of care and rehabilitation for prisoners with mental health or addiction issues, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has said.
He was speaking at the launch of the new €200 million facility in Portrane, Dublin, on Friday which will replace the Victorian-era hospital in Dundrum.
The project was first mooted by Taoiseach Micheál Martin as Minister for Health two decades ago.
More recently the Covid-19 pandemic and industrial relations issues delayed the opening of the hospital.
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The new forensic mental hospital will continue to be responsible for treating some of the most violent offenders who come before the courts. It will also provide care to other people with severe mental health conditions.
Mr Donnelly said “too many people ... in our prison system, are there primarily because of addiction issues and/or because of mental health issues” and there is now a move to a health focused philosophy for care and rehabilitation.
The hospital will open with an initial 110 beds but will ultimately have 170 by 2024, as opposed to the 95 that were available in Dundrum.
There will be 20 beds for women and ten for children or adolescents.
Minister of State for Mental Health Mary Butler said the hospital is one of the most modern in Europe and will take care of people with the most complex needs.
“I think it will give great comfort to their families that they will have fantastic facilities to try to live the best life they possibly can,” she said.
Minister of State for Justice James Browne said around two-thirds of prisoners have a mental health or addiction difficulty and prison is not the appropriate setting for the treatment of people with mental illness.
There has typically been a long waiting list for admission to the CMH, meaning many severely mentally ill patients are confined in prisons.
It has been reported that the new facility is expected be full for male patients next year. Asked about capacity issues Mr Donnelly said the Government is increasing mental health facilities in acute and community care around the country.
He said: What we’ve got to do is invest more in prevention, more in rehab, and essentially, reduce the need for facilities like this”.
Separately, Mr Donnelly was asked about waiting times for patients in hospital emergency departments after the Health Service Executive’s (HSE) chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry conceded on Thursday that it is possible some patients would be stuck on trolleys for 24 hours this winter.
Children’s hospital emergency departments have also experienced a recent doubling in the number of patients attending with Children’s Health Ireland saying last week the vast majority of those presenting at hospitals do not require medical review.
Mr Donnelly said CHI is dealing with a “very significant rise” in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and there is concern about how sick some children are getting with the illness.
On emergency departments he said there is a winter plan in place and more broadly that the Government is determined to add “sufficient” and “permanent” capacity to the health service through extra hospital beds and community resources so that “waiting for too long on trolleys becomes a thing of the past.”
He said it “has been going on for many, many years” and it got worse due to Covid-19.
Mr Donnelly urged people to get the flu vaccine and, for those eligible, the latest Covid-10 booster vaccine saying it is “the single most important thing that we can all do in terms of taking pressure off the emergency departments ... this winter”.
He said patients should go to the “most appropriate place” which for some will be their GP and others it could be a minor injury unit as opposed to an emergency department.
