The Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) said today (Tuesday, 5th September) that the publication of the HSE Review of Roscommon Mental Health Services was a shocking indictment of management of the services and the extent to which these management failings had compromised the ability of nursing staff to deliver safe standards of care.
The PNA said today’s Review pointed clearly to an emphasis by management on budgets and cost containment over delivery of properly managed services and safe standards of care. It said the finding that budgets were consistently underspent by millions of euro over a number of years highlighted the extent to which the management in Roscommon failed to understand the need for investment in services.
The Review points out the impact on the delivery of services of a litany of fractious and broken relationships at management level. These hampered the effective delivery of services, but despite repeated warnings from PNA this dysfunctional management was allowed to perpetuate by the HSE.
The fact that today’s Review draws parallels with the Mid Staffordshire hospital scandal in the UK – now regarded as the worst hospital scandal in NHS history – is truly shocking, but correctly illustrates the scale of the failings and their impact in Roscommon.
The PNA said it was deeply disappointed that many of the senior management team are to remain in place and that despite the findings in the Roscommon Review it fails to address the issue of accountability. It is also alarming that implementation of the Review’s recommendations and effecting change in Roscommon Mental Health services is being left in the hands of those who are so heavily criticised in the Review.
Finally, the PNA called for a fuller investigation into how the situation described in today’s Review was allowed to develop and continue for so long despite warnings from PNA, and the obvious impact it was having on the vital mental health services in Roscommon.
Media Contacts : Derek Cunningham 0862430535
