HSE accused of trying to close Mental Health Service Training Centres by stealth
HSE
Serious concern has been raised about the future of the county’s three mental health service training centres.
The trade union Fórsa, which represents staff, said that the HSE has not replaced vacant permanent posts at the centres and was concerned that the service was being closed by “stealth”.
The centres, which are located in Roscommon Town, Boyle and Castlerea, aim to promote positive mental health and wellbeing for individuals experiencing mental health challenges. The centre’s services include horticulture, drumming, and the development of social and independent living skills. Service users are referred to the centre by other mental health services.
Fórsa official Padraig Mulligan said that the training centres provided vital supports for mental health services in the county. However, he said that because staff, which should be on permanent contracts, are being offered only three months contracts, the service was being undermined.
“The service user is supposed to be at the heart of this, giving them the opportunity to live independently,” he said.
But “red tape” is dragging out the issuing of contracts with serious negative consequences for trying to attract and retain staff, he added.
“There are full time jobs there but they are not filling them full time, and the HSE is putting the service at risk,” he said. “Who is going to come to a job when all you’re going to get is a three month rolling contract? How do you get a mortgage or provide stability for your family?” He said that a national recruitment embargo initiated last year to deal with budget overruns was still in effect in reality.
“The HSE is putting so much unnecessary paperwork in front of the candidate, they can’t take up the positions,” he said.
Mr Mulligan said that at the moment staff were being moved around in order to provide cover for annual and sick leave “Training centres provide an outlet and a purpose for service users. They are taken to matches or some other type of activity. All of that was being taken away from them by the HSE not filling these posts,” he said.
“The HSE is prioritising paperwork over people.” Staff at the training centres were also not part of any discussions about the future of mental health services, he said.
“They are showing huge disrespect to people who have done fantastic work for a significant period of time,” he said. “All the discussions are around clinical outcomes but there are other important outcomes that our members work on and have dedicated their lives to, and service users have benefited from.”
Mr Mulligan said that Fórsa was seeking an urgent meeting with HSE management over the issue, saying was “going to war” over the issue.
“Service users say they want the training centres, the centres meet the model of care, but the commitment from HSE has not been clearly seen. How dare they put the service users in this position, of coming after the paper work. We are seriously considering balloting staff in the training centres for industrial action over this. We are definitely going to the Workplace Relations Commission but our concern is the damage will be done before we get through the process.”
When contacted the HSE confirmed that vacancies at the centres are being “replaced” by staff on temporary contracts.
“Mental Health Services, HSE Community Healthcare West (CHW) are currently conducting a review across CHW to determine the best way to meet the future needs of service users in the region,” a HSE spokesperson said. “This process includes consultation with service users and staff and aims to provide modern, socially inclusive services in accordance with best practices for those with mental health difficulties across our communities.
“To ensure that services are not disrupted during this process, staff who have retired or resigned from the Training Centre’s have been replaced by people on temporary contracts until we determine the profile of staff required for these services into the future.”
