Nurses voice anger over staff changes in south Tipperary psychiatric services

Several nurses working in a number of mental health/psychiatric units in south Tipperary have expressed their dissatisfaction with staff changes that will involve them being moved around the different units from next month.

One nurse, who didn’t wish to be named, stated that in normal times they would have no objection to these changes. 

But they claim that the proposals are “crazy” during a pandemic.

“Everyone is doing their extreme best and we have done everything to keep Covid-19 at bay in the units,” the nurse told The Nationalist. 

“But instead of patting us on the back and saying ‘well done,’ management has now decided to move people.”

The nurses claim that the staff changes at this time amount to bad management, especially when the nurses are trying to keep everyone safe, including patients, the nurses themselves and their families.

Some of the nurses say that the changes, which are due to come into effect on April 16, will involve some staff being moved from the psychiatric services to care of the elderly. 

They say this is not like for like, and that the nurses will have a completely different role to fulfil.

The staff changes will involve several units in south Tipperary.

These include Carraig Oir and Lorica in Cashel, which are high-support rehabilitation units for former patients of St Michael’s and St Luke’s psychiatric hospitals in Clonmel; the Morton Street centre in Clonmel; the east and west wings at Heywood Lodge in Clonmel (units for the care of the elderly and psychiatric patients), the Community Mental Health Centre in Clonmel and the Crisis House in Clonmel, all of which come under the umbrella of the psychiatric services.

“The new staff won’t know the patients and many of the patients hate any kind of change,” the nurse stated.

Some of the nurses are also unhappy with a situation that they claim involves some management swabbing patients as part of Covid-19 testing at weekends. 

They say that as nurses they are qualified to do this job but are being overlooked.

The HSE issued the following statement in response to the nurses’ claims:

“HSE/South East Community Healthcare can assure people in the south Tipperary area that it has a comprehensive range of mental health services in place, staffed by dedicated teams of staff committed to the provision of a quality and safe mental health service to the population it serves.

“The HSE does not comment on matters relating to individual employees but advises that it continually liaises with staff representatives in its organisation of services.”

For more Tipperary news see Driver and passenger returning from party in Clonmel stopped by gardaí in Cork