CUH mental health unit has improved its compliance

Cork University Hospital’s mental health unit improved its compliance with regulations significantly last year, the Mental Health Commission (MHC) has said in its 2025 annual report.

The report found continued improvement across Ireland’s in-patient mental health services, with the average overall compliance level of Cork centres improving from 78% in 2024 to 86% in 2025, and year-on-year improvements in six of eight centres.

The largest improvement was the Acute Adult Mental Health Unit in CUH, where the compliance rate went from 60% to 80%. The report noted the commission withdrew a prosecution against the facility, brought on foot of an April 2024 inspection.

The HSE took a number of actions, including strengthening governance and management arrangements to oversee the quality and safety of care, resulting in prosecution withdrawal. 

There were no critical non compliances, four high, three moderate and one low risk in its 2025 inspection, compared to eight critical, four high and one moderate in the previous year.

The Cork centre with the most non compliances was St Catherine’s Ward in St Finbarr’s Hospital, with two critical and four high risk.

It was followed by St Stephen’s Hospital’s mental health units, with one critical, four high and four moderate risk; St Michael’s Unit in the Mercy University Hospital with one critical and two high risk; and Bantry General Hospital’s Centre for Mental Health Care and Recovery, with seven high risk and one moderate.

Eist Linn, the Child and Adolescent in-patient Unit, had two high risk non compliances and four moderate, while the Carraig Mór Centre, in Shanakiel, had one high and three moderate risk noncompliances.

All but one Cork centre was over 80% compliant, with St Stephen’s Hospital facility getting a score of 73%, the fourth worst in Ireland.

This marks an improvement from the previous year, when CUH, St Stephen’s, St Finbarr’s and Eist Linn were all below 80%.