Plans for new hospital mental health services unsuitable, says Cork county councillor

Plans for mental health services at the St Stephen’s Hospital campus have been described by a Cork councillor as less progressive than those built in the 1980s.

It is HSE and UN policy that these facilities should be for small groups and located within a community setting, at odds with the plan to place 50 people on a hospital campus.

Social Democrats councillor and general election candidate Liam Quaide met with Dr Andy Phillips, the regional executive officer for HSE South West, earlier this year and highlighted issues with the plans for the site, stressing “the unsuitability” of the 50-bed set of bungalows proposed for construction at an estimated capital cost of €64m.

In a letter to Mr Quaide seen by The Echo, Dr Phillips cited the housing crisis and hopes for future development in Glanmire as reasons why they are progressing with the development.

He said that the ‘Vision for Change’ policy, which was published in 2006 “clearly acknowledges the serious lack of adequate housing and accommodation options to enable service users to move through the different stages of recovery and progress towards the goal of independent, community-based living”.

“Unfortunately, 18 years later, the position regarding housing is now acknowledged to be at crisis point nationally,” he explained.

In relation to St Stephen’s, “HSE South West will focus on developing a culture based on recovery and hope to support residents to move to individualised accommodation options.

“The CRR [Community Rehabilitative Residences] should be a pathway on the journey to more independent living rather than an end destination,” he said, adding: “HSE SW recognises the need to further develop this model of care.”

Dr Phillips continued: “With regard to concerns raised regarding the appropriateness of St Stephen’s Campus, HSE SW has been assured by HSE Estates that the units will be designed in such a manner that they will not be institutional and will be separate from any other building on the land adjacent.”

Glanmire has been identified as a strategic growth area within the Cork City Development Plan 2002-2028, Dr Phillips said, explaining that this will include a review of retail, tourism, travel, public realm upgrades, and other local services in the future.

However, Mr Quaide pointed out that his response refers to strategic growth plans for Glanmire, but “unfortunately these plans are not relevant” as “St Stephen’s is located outside the metropolitan zone of Glanmire, in its hinterland,” he said, adding that the land around St Stephen’s is zoned for agricultural use.

“The nearest shop of any description to St Stephen’s — a 1.7km walk from the entrance of the hospital — is a service station.

“The first 1km of this route along the L2973 has no footpath.

“There are no community amenities within walking distance of St Stephen’s Hospital and no plans to develop any,” he said, adding: “The grounds will be the site of a new elective hospital in Cork, which will also make it a particularly medicalised setting.”

Mr Quaide cited when long-stay patients of Our Lady’s Hospital moved to the Owenacurra Centre, in the heart of Midleton, in 1988 “their lives were transformed for the better,” saying “what is being proposed currently for St Stephen’s is clearly going backwards on this trend.

“Investing €64m in residential services on the St Stephen’s campus would therefore be a major misdirection of public money,” he continued, saying that it would use up funding that should be spent on opening multiple smaller, community-integrated services.

“If this St Stephen’s Hospital project goes ahead, we will be facing the morally absurd scenario of a centralised residential mental health service that is far less progressive in the key area of community integration, at an immense cost to the taxpayer, than services developed in Cork in the 1980s and 1990s.”