I wish to share my time with Senator Naughten.
Adjournment Matters. - Castlerea (Roscommon) Hospital.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
I raised this matter to ask for clarification from the Minister for Health on the provision of alternative accommodation in Castlerea for the patients in St. Patrick's Hospital following the Government decision of 9 March to locate a prison in the grounds of the hospital. There is general welcome for this decision by organisations in Castlerea and the general public in County Roscommon. However, this decision brought a number of complications. The patients will have to be located elsewhere. On 3 May the Western Health Board stated it had decided that the patients and psychiatric services of the hospital should be located in Castlerea. On 25 May the Minister turned the sod for the prison. There is a certain urgency in that work has started on the boundary wall of the prison and is in progress at present.
There are still approximately 73 in-patients in the hospital. Over 70 outpatients attend the hospital daily; of these 40 come from their homes for day care services, 25 from foster homes, seven from supervised hostels and five from flats. When we talk about the patient population of Castlerea hospital, we are referring not only to its approximately 73 in-patients but also to a further 77 who attend daily for professional services. Around 150 people still require medical and nursing services and support from the hospital.
The Western Health Board has submitted a set of proposals to the Department of Health which it says will cost around £3.5 million. These include the provision in Castlrea of a high support hostel, a psycho-geriatric unit, a workshop sector headquarters, medium stay hostels and other back up services. It also asks for central stores in Roscommon town, an extension of the day care centre in Boyle and the provision of a day care centre in south Roscommon, possibly adjacent to Athlone. However, there are a number of problems with regard to the provision of these services. The health board does not have sufficient funds and has applied to the Department of Health for funding. It has taken an option on some sites, one or two of which it may have bought; it may have a problem with paying a deposit on one of the sites on which it has an option.
There is a need for clarification on a number of fronts. We must allay the fears and worries of the patients and their families and the hospital's staff who are worried about the in and outpatients. We have a responsibility in this area and I seek a reassurance from the Minister that these fears will be allayed. There is the matter of time spans and dates. Work has commenced on the construction of at least part of the prison. The boundary fence is being constructed at present; this construction is visible to people who attend the hospital. They see that their time in the hospital is limited, whether they attend daily or are in-patients. They are also aware that no definite arrangements have been made regarding alternative accommodation, other than the decisions which have been taken. The physical provision of alternative facilities is not apparent to the staff, in-patients, those who attend the hospital daily and the people of Castlerea. This is a time for reassuring the people involved and for clarification. Statements have been made to the effect that it is intended that the prison will open in 1996. If this timetable is to be adhered to, construction would have to start on the prison itself in the near future. However, there are no definite plans for alternative facilities for these patients. There have been no applications for planning permissions. These things take time.
Clarification and reassurance are now important. I appreciate that two Ministries are involved here and that the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy O'Dea, cannot talk about the starting or finishing dates for the prison. The Minister for Health has first responsibility to the patients, their families and staff at St. Patrick's Hospital in Castlerea and its catchment area. Finance should not prevent the provision of alternative accommodation. We need reassurance and clarification so that we can tell the patients, their families and staff in the Castlerea area about the up to date position and when alternative accommodation for the patients and staff of St. Patrick's Hospital in Castlerea will be finalised. We want to tell these people what their future will be and what opportunities will be provided for them to continue the excellent service for those who, unfortunately, need psychiatric care.
Mr. Naughten
I thank Senator Finneran for sharing his time with me. I endorse what he said about the concerns of the patients, relatives and staff of St. Patrick's Hospital in Castlerea about their future. Everyone in County Roscommon welcomes the Government's decision to convert St. Patrick's Hospital in Castlerea to a prison and the opportunity it presents for Castlerea. The large drop in patient numbers meant the hospital had outlived its usefulness as a psychiatric hospital. We are glad these developments are taking place.
As Senator Finneran stated, these developments are under way at present. However, the Western Health Board has received no commitment for funding from the Government to provide replacement services. There are more than 80 patients at St. Patrick's Hospital in Castlerea and there are day-care facilities for approximately the same number. It is of vital importance that those services are provided in Castlerea. As Senator Finneran correctly pointed out, the Western Health Board unanimously decided that those services should be provided in Castlerea. This is important and cannot be emphasised enough.
The Western Health Board has also requested funding for a high support hostel, workshop facilities, a dementia unit and other facilities which are needed in Castlerea as a result of the transfer of St. Patrick's Hospital from the Department of Health to the Department of Justice. This valuable property was transferred for the nominal sum of £1 on the understanding that the health board would get the necessary funding from the Department of Health to provide alternative services. The health board must provide day-care facilities in Boyle, Roscommon and Monksland, one of the fastest growing areas outside Galway city, on the outskirts of Athlone and within the jurisdiction of the Western Health Board.
I appeal to the Minister to ask his Department to give a clear commitment to the Western Health Board to provide funding. We need funding to put these facilities in place. As Senator Finneran stated, the health board has taken options on certain properties to provide facilities for these patients. However, we cannot provide them without funding from the Government. An application for funding, in excess of £3 million, has been sent to the Department of Health to provide the necessary facilities as a result of the closure of St. Patrick's Hospital in Castlerea.
The Government decided on 9 March 1994 that a new prison facility catering for 150 male offenders should be located at St. Patrick's Hospital, Castlerea, and that alternative accommodation should be provided for patients residing in the hospital. The west wing of the hospital currently accommodates 43 long stay psycho-geriatric patients and 24 rehabilitation patients. Some 13 patients reside in a high support hostel in the hospital grounds and 50 persons attend a vocational training workshop on the campus on a daily basis. The primary concern of my colleague, the Minister for Health, Deputy Howlin, is to ensure that the Government's decision is implemented with the minimum disruption to patients and staff. Primary responsibility for the welfare of patients and staff lies with the Western Health Board. The Department of Health has been working closely with the board to ensure that alternative accommodation and services are provided without delay for patients currently residing in or attending St. Patrick's Hospital.
On the basis of preliminary estimates provided by the Western Health Board of the cost of providing alternative accommodation and services for patients of St. Patrick's Hospital, the Department of Health sought and received the sanction in principle of the Department of Finance to a total of £1.5 million for the provision of alternative accommodation in April last. The Western Health Board then carried out a detailed assessment of the implications of closing St. Patrick's Hospital and submitted revised estimates of the capital cost of relocating services in September. This revealed a need to provide, in addition to earlier requirements, a high support hostel for the more disturbed patients, two day-care centres to provide activation for less dependent patients moved to community residences, a mental health centre to provide accommodation for professional staff delivering services to the Castlerea sector and a central stores for the health services in Roscommon to replace the stores currently provided on the site of St. Patrick's Hospital. The cost of these developments and the decision of the Western Health Board to provide a psycho-geriatric unit in Castlerea rather than at the Sacred Heart Home, Roscommon, has added to the cost of the health board's original estimate for vacating St. Patrick's Hospital and providing alternative accommodation and services.
The Department of Health is at present engaged in discussions with the Department of Finance regarding the additional funding required to provide alternative accommodation and services for the hospital, as proposed by the board. In the meantime, the Western Health Board has been assessing the suitability of available properties in the area in the context of future service needs and has commenced drawing down the £1.5 million which has already been approved. It is furnishing two hostels already in its possession; it is in the process of purchasing a property for use as a high support hostel and is negotiating the acquisition of two sites for other hostel developments and a site for an industrial training workshop.
I am aware that part of the new prison wall in now complete and that the Department of Justice is keen to have access in the middle of next year to certain parts of the hospital site to commence construction of the new prison accommodation. I assure the House that the Department of Health, in co-operation with the Western Health Board, will make every effort to expedite the provision of alternative accommodation and services. Measures will also be taken to ensure the safety of patients and staff should building begin before all patients and staff are transferred from the site.
The Seanad adjourned at 8.50 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 27 October 1994.