Anger at shutdown of brand new psychiatric unit in Ballinasloe

The shock decision to close a brand new €2.8 million acute psychiatric unit in Ballinasloe almost as soon as it opens has been described as a “blatantly politicised decision” which bears no relation to the reality on the ground.

Two trade unions, SIPTU and Impact, have expressed outrage that the ‘points system’ used to justify keeping Roscommon open while closing the 22-bed unit at St Brigid’s Hospital has found that Roscommon is better in terms of location, emergency access, and proximity to A&E services.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) figures, which have been seen by the Connacht Tribune, show Roscommon outscored Ballinasloe 10-3 in terms of proximity to a major hospital, 7-5 in terms of accessibility to medical services and, bizarrely, and 7-5 for road access, including access for emergency vehicles.

“Have the people who scored this report even bothered to visit the two sites?” asked Padraig Mulligan of Impact. “Do they not even know that there’s a motorway in Ballinasloe these days?

“Having seen the figures, and spoken to politicians and people in the medical field, these figures don’t stand up to any sort of scrutiny. This does seem to be a case of playing politics. We would like to know what politicians support this closure and on what basis.”

Mr Mulligan was incredulous that €2.8 million has been spent on the new state of the art 22-bed unit at St Brigid’s, which will now be closed down before it even opens and instead taken over by clerical staff.

He was “shocked” that Roscommon outscored St Brigid’s 10-3 in terms of its proximity to a major hospital, given that Portiuncula is so close to the Ballinasloe facility.

“It’s unreal that the HSE brought the staff together a few years ago to announce a new Centre of Excellence for Ballinasloe,” he said. “Now, our clerical staff, who had to fight to get a toilet for their offices, will have the most luxurious en suites next to their new offices,” he said.

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