Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 23 Jun 1992

Vol. 421 No. 4

Written Answers. - St. Ita's Hospital, Dublin.

Nuala Fennell

Ceist:

226 Mrs. Fennell asked the Minister for Health if he will outline the plans he has for the mentally handicapped young people at present in St. Ita's Hospital; and if it is his intention to transfer them to another location or to upgrade existing facilities.

Minister for Health (Dr. O'Connell)

The management of St. Ita's Hospital is the responsibility of the Eastern Health Board. The board now provides a separate mental handicap service, called St. Joseph's, for people with mental handicap on the campus of St. Ita's Hospital. Nurses with a mental handicap qualification have been recruited to this service and a post graduate course in mental handicap nursing is being run by the Eastern Health Board under the auspices of An Bord Altranais, for psychiatric nurses who wish to develop their expertise in mental handicap. A comprehensive range of other in-service courses is also being provided for the staff in this field.

The Eastern Health Board is of the view that the large institutional buildings on the campus of St. Ita's Hospital are unsuitable to accommodate people with a mental handicap. In 1991 two of the former staff houses on the campus were converted into hostels for clients of the service which facilitated the closure of one of the main institutional units. This year the Eastern Health Board intends to open a further 23 places in three other group homes on the campus. This will facilitate the closure of a further institutional unit. The board plans to continue this process of transfer from the institutional accommodation. Before any client is transferred, his or her individual needs are assessed, and an individual programme plan agreed. Parents are actively involved in the transfer and the preparation of programme plans. The board has embarked on the provision of a comprehensive range of community services in north County Dublin with the initial aim of preventing inappropriate new admissions of people with mental handicap to St. Ita's Hospital.