The Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) plans to poll its membership regarding potential industrial action as a reaction to the Health Service Executive’s (HSE) decision to exclude mental health services from relief of a recruiting ban. Initiated in November 2023, this ban came into effect following revelations that the HSE had filled or pledged 2,000 roles without receiving appropriate funding from the government.
PNA’s General Secretary, Peter Hughes, explained that their members’ “frustration” about an April 3rd HSE memo motivated the strike ballot. This memo disclosed exemptions to the employment freeze; however, it overlooked mental health services. Hughes argued that about 700 unfilled positions in mental health services have significantly hindered care delivery, essential service maintenance, and service development.
According to Hughes, the sustainability of managing the provision of crucial psychiatric services throughout the country, including services for children and adolescents, now heavily relies on overtime and agency work. This increasing reliance is fuelling fears that it may ultimately lead to service shut-down. Hughes emphasised the pressing need to remove psychiatric and mental health nursing from the hiring freeze.
Hughes pointed out specific services that remain unavailable due to staffing shortages. For instance, due to the embargo on recruitment, an 11-bed unit at the Linn Dara Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services centre in Cherry Orchard, Dublin, has now closed.
“Our mental health services are nearing a critical point of collapse,” Hughes warned. “It is essential to exhaust every possible means to reinstate this unit.” Reliable sources have informed the PNA that the impending closure of several community services is imminent, as administrators look to focus resources on approved inpatient centres and round-the-clock community services. This situation presents not only a significant risk for community-based care but also an increase in admissions, added Hughes.
“There’s also a huge risk factor concerning clinical governance due to the absence of critical promotional posts exempted from the hiring freeze,” Hughes stated.
Furthermore, according to Hughes, the HSE’s denial of the severe staffing crisis in mental health services and its refusal to lift the hiring freeze for these services has significantly eroded the confidence of existing psychiatric nurses dealing with acute staffing crises now and in the foreseeable future.
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