High rate of compliance at Owenacurra Centre means imminent closure 'makes even less sense'

A Cork councillor has said the high compliance rating received by the Owenacurra Centre in Midleton, following an inspection by the Mental Health Commission (MHC) last year, shows the decision to close the centre “makes even less sense”.

Independent councillor Liam Quaide, who has long campaigned for the centre to remain open, said the inspection, carried out in November last year, revealed a high compliance rate for the centre, of 90% compliance rate and was non-compliant in three areas: premises; staffing; and risk management.

At the time of the focused inspection, the plan remained to close the approved centre. However, no date for this closure was provided by the HSE.

By this time, the MHC had outlined its concerns to the HSE regarding the proposed transfer of residents in the centre, and had sought a detailed implementation plan, setting out how residents would be individually consulted and how preference regarding any move would be sought and respected.

The transfer of a resident to another approved centre took place outside the agreed processes between the MHC and the HSE and, in view of this transfer, the MHC sought to assurances other transfers had not occurred or were being planned that did not adhere to the agreed process.

To this end, a decision was made to carry out a focused inspection, and Inspectors noted residents had transition plans and folders which documented the meetings between professionals, residents, and family members.

Eight residents’ individual care plans included transition planning, however, it was evident for these eight residents that, from November 2021 to April 2022, no transition planning meetings were documented.

Owenacurra had first been marked for closure in June 2021, which was met with firm opposition within the community and sparked a sustained media and political campaign to reverse the decision.

Councillor Quaide said the decision to close the centre “makes even less sense now that Owenacurra has received such a high compliance rating of 90%”.

He said that the aspects of the report that are non-compliant do not in any way justify a closure and outlined how St Stephen’s Hospital, which was being offered as an alternative to a significant number of Owenacurra residents, had a 70% compliance rate on its most recent inspection.

“I'm appealing to new HSE CEO Bernard Gloster to reconsider this service decision, which is at odds with the interests of a very vulnerable group of people in East Cork,” he said.