This article is from page 17 of the 2012-03-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 17 JPG
A STATE-OF-THE-ART dementia unit, which was refurbished two years ago by the HSE at a cost of almost quarter of a million euro, remains closed to the county’s 1,300 Alzheimer’s patients.
While HSE management said it is committed to the opening of the unit, staffing issues mean the unit on the grounds of St Joseph’s Hospital, Ennis, is likely to remain closed for the near future.
Alzheimer’s and dementia are a growing issue within the Clare health services.
Between January and October last year, there were 303 Alzheimer’s patients being care for by the older people’s psychiatric team in the county.
However, there are a further 380 new patients referred to the service but still not seen.
The 15-bed specialised unit in St Joseph’s was designed to provide 13 residential beds to seriously ill patients, as well as two respite care beds.
These patients are currently being cared for at Cappahard Lodge, Ennis, while the unopened Alzheimer’s unit at St Joseph’s is being used as a temporary home for patients displaced due to essential fire and safety upgrades at the hospital.
Bernard Gloster, Area Manager Mid West PCCC, said, “It is expected that these (fire and safety) works will be completed by June 30, 2012 and, following the final transfer of the older persons back to the units in St Joseph’s Hospital, unit 5 (the new Alzheimer’s unit) will be available to the Mental Health Services.”
The health manager admits, however, that staffing the unit will pose difficulties.
“It will be a challenge for the Mental Health Services to staff this specific dementia unit from within the reduced staffing resource available to the service following the retirement of a substantial number of nurses from the service.
“However, management of the Clare Mental Health Service will endeavour to reorganise its service delivery to enable this dementia unit to be utilised for dementia patients,” he said.
Meanwhile, the HSE plans to remove all patients from Gort Glas to other units within the mental health services and in conjunction with the Alzheimer’s Society of Ireland (ASI) build a dementia-specific day centre and the Psychiatry of Old Age Outpatient Service on the site.
“The project is on the HSE Capital Plan for 2012. Currently, the design and costings are being examined and decisions are pending to ensure that the project progresses within the funding resources available to the ASI and the HSE,” said Mr Gloster.
Clare representative on the HSE West Forum, Cllr Tom McNamara (FF) expressed his fears that the release of staff from the closure of Gort Glass and the downgrading of the HSE facility at Dalganish, Shannon, will not be sufficient to open the Alzheimer’s unit in Ennis.
“The opening of the residential and day-care service has to be a priority,” he said.