Mental Health Commission inspectors hit UHG after psychiatric unit revelations

A team of inspectors from the Mental Health Commission began trawling through files at UHG’s psychiatric unit this week, following a series of high-profile crises which saw several suicidal people turned away from the hospital.

The unannounced visit came just one day after a city councillor brandished the front page of last week’s Galway City Tribune in the faces of HSE officials at a Regional Health Forum meeting – it detailed the story of an 18-year-old girl who was rescued from the River Corrib following a suicide attempt, and then refused admission to UHG.

Tony Canavan, a Chief Officer with the HSE, said the article on the psychiatric unit – and a series of others in recent weeks in this newspaper –  made for “difficult reading”.

A source at UHG said the Mental Health Commission (MHC) is “turning the place upside down” this week, poring over files and data on patient numbers.

Over the past three weeks, the Galway City Tribune has detailed a series of incidents in which suicidal patients were denied admission to the psychiatric unit – one subsequently drowned himself; one was told to join the Darkness into Light walk and another had to be held in a Garda cell for her own safety.

A statement from the HSE confirmed that the visit had taken place, adding: “The unannounced visit is not an investigation. The MHC are visiting as part of their unannounced visits to mental health units in Ireland as outlined in their ‘Judgement Support Framework’.

However, a source in UHG said: “It’s no coincidence they [inspectors] arrived this week, after the articles over the past few weeks.”
For the rest of this story, and coverage of the discussion at the Regional Health Forum meeting, see this week’s Galway City Tribune. Buy a digital edition of this week’s paper here, or download the app for Android or iPhone.