Number of mental health service nurses may fall by 22%

THE number of approved nurses employed in the Clare Mental Health Service could drop by 22.25% over a two-year period following retirements later this year, the Health Service Executive has warned.
A recent internal HSE report revealed that 32% of the whole time equivalent posts in the Clare Mental Health Service were vacant at the end of last December, which was the highest percentage of vacancies for a particular service in the entire HSE West area, stretching from North Tipperary to Donegal.
The review on the impact of the national ban on recruitment and promotion posts on the provision of nursing and midwifery services in the HSE West pointed out 54 whole time equivalent posts were left unfilled out of a total of 171 on December 12 last. This included 23.3 unfilled posts in management grades, four advanced nurse specialists and clinical nurse specialists and 26.7 psychiatric nursing posts.
Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) spokesman, Denis Meehan expressed concern about the over-reliance on overtime in the Clare Mental Health Services.
Mr Meehan claimed that staff designated for some of the rehab units in Clare Mental Health Service could be cut during the day and night due to staffing shortages. He said between 10 and 12 people have to be recruited on overtime during the day and five or six at night just to keep the service going.
He added some student psychiatric nurses, who trained in the HSE West, are now going to England to get jobs.
In January 2009, there were 200.65 nursing whole time equivalents employed in the Clare Mental Health Services. The Mid-West HSE has confirmed in December 2009 this had reduced to 172.01 WTEs and by March 2010 it further reduced to 170.03, with the consequential loss of budget, due to the moratorium.
The regional health authority acknowledged this reduction in available nursing staff presents challenges in maintaining the quality and safety of the services and projected a further 15 retirements in 2010, which will reduce its WTE ceiling to 155.03.
In line with best practice, HSE management reviewed the provision of mental health services in County Clare. The principle objective of the review was to ensure that it could provide the most appropriate services for its clients in the context of their changing needs and the decreasing financial and staff resources available.
“The review took place against a background of a decline in the number of nurses working in the Clare Mental Health Services, a national moratorium on recruitment and the need to respond to the complex requirements of specialised services to patients in accordance with best practice in modern mental health care.
“In line with the foregoing and to ensure that the HSE continue to provide safe levels of service, the HSE are currently engaged in a re-configuration of its Mental Health Services.
“Management have been engaging with the PNA and other health service trade unions to manage this matter of appropriate staffing and services for patients and service users over a two-year period at local level and under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission. The most recent engagement was on June 29, 2010,” said a HSE spokesman.