This article is from page 19 of the 2014-11-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 19 JPG
SECURITY guards at Clare’s only acute psychiatric unit have physically restrained patients without any medical support or direction.
Mental health inspectors were “alarmed” to learn that security personnel at the Acute Psychiatric Unit in Ennis Hospital “had been the only people involved in restraint of residents” on four occasions.
Dr Fionnuala O’Loughlin, Assistant Inspector of Mental Health Services, and Sean Logue, Assistant Inspector of Mental Health Services, made the discovery during an unannounced inspection of the 39-bed Acute Psychiatric Unit (APU), on July 8 and 9 last.
According to the report by the Mental Health Commission on Friday the inspectors were concerned at the use of security personnel in the practice of physical restraint in this centre.
Two security guards have been employed at the acute unit for the last three years, specif cally to assist in the management of one patient.
This is estimated to cost € 400,000 per annum. Member of the HSE West Forum and former psychiatric nurse Cllr Tom McNamara said that this situation is not benef ting anyone. “He should be in a psychiatric intensive care unit where his needs could be met,” he said adding that the Government’s Mental Health Paper ‘Vision for Change’ had proposed four of these units for the country.
“What they are spending on security would go a long way to staff ng a proper unit where this patient’s needs would be met and people would be trained to take care of him,” he said.
According to the inspectors’ report published at the end of last week, this patient was no longer a detained patient at the time of inspection.
“There was now an anomalous situation whereby security personnel were employed in respect of a voluntary resident,” the inspectors reported. “In addition, it was clear that the security personnel, on duty at all times in the approved centre, engaged in the physical restraint of other residents and ordered and initiated the practice in some instances.”
The inspectors reported that they found it “alarming” that in some instances the security personnel had been the only people involved in restraint of residents, “as documented in the Physical Restraint register”. “This signif ed a serious lack of knowledge by the service in respect of the Code of Practice on the Use of Physical Restraint.”
The report recommended that if the hospital was to continue to use security personnel there must be a policy, which clearly outlines their role and scope of activity.
“Physical restraint must only be initiated and ordered by registered medical practitioners, registered nurses and other members of the multidisciplinary care team,” it stated.