Nurses criticise Tús Nua closure

LAST week’s closure of the only mental health facility in Ballymun has been slammed by psychiatric nurses who warn that it will have a

“serious impact

? on the delivery of services in the area.

The Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) say it’s totally opposed to the closure, despite HSE assurances that all clients of the Tús Nua day facility in Ballymun Shopping Centre were being catered for under new arrangements.

PNA representatives met with the HSE before the closure to demand a deferral and to voice concerns on its impact on mental health services in Ballymun.

Tús Nua provided a range of therapy and group mental health services to 32 clients in 14 therapy groups with long-term mental health issues. According to PNA figures, the centre facilitated nearly 3,000 attendances last year.

‘The closure of Tús Nua without consultation is premature and will seriously undermine the mental health services available to the community in Ballymun,

? said PNA Industrial Officer, Peter Hughes.

“While PNA recognises the need to move from the present facility there is ample alternative accommodation in Ballymun in which to carry on the work of Tús Nua.

“Instead the services are being significantly reduced and the alternative being proposed by the HSE will not cater for the needs of community.

“Currently there is just one nurse and three trainers in Tús Nua who work closely with the four community mental health nurses in the area. The HSE now wants to remove what is already a disadvantaged service and dilute it further with the closure of Tús Nua.

?

Several clients have been referred to alternative mental health day services in other Northside areas and the HSE is offering an interim programme of activities for others in Ballymun’s Civic Centre on Main Street from December 1.

“All service users under the care of the Community Mental Health Team have either had an alternative service identified for them or will attend this interim programme of activities commencing on December 1,

? a spokesperson for the HSE said.

“This initiative will provide a programme of activities tailored to the specific needs of the service users attending through the use of the group room and community resources.

“All services users are being informed of this plan directly by their mental health team.

?

However, Northside People has been contacted by clients who aren’t happy with the arrangement.

“We are all very upset over this,

? one said.

“We feel we are being discarded like a pair of old slippers.

“They are trying to cut back on funding but by doing this they are only making people even more vulnerable than they are already.

?

Ballymun Sinn Féin Councillor, Noeleen Reilly, welcomed the interim programme but said it fell short of a call she made in September for the HSE to find alternative accommodation in the Ballymun area.

“I have raised concerns about the closure of Tús Nua for the last number of months,

? she said.
Cllr Reilly said she saw the interim arrangements as a

“vital first step

? in keeping the service in Ballymun.

“Given the area that we are talking about here I feel it in very important that the patients are kept in a similar surrounding dealing with professionals that are familiar to them.

“Tús Nua was the only walk in day centre in Ballymun for mental health patients and its closure is a blow to the area.

?

The PNA described it as

“ironic

? that the closure of a vital mental health service in one of Ireland’s most disadvantaged areas coincided with the launch of the HSE’s service plan for 2015.

“The scaled back alternative service to Tús Nua is totally inadequate to meet the service needs of the 36,500 population in the Ballymun catchment area,

? said Industrial Officer, Peter Hughes.