Ten mental health facilities have not been complying with legal regulations, new reports by the Mental Health Commission have found.

The inspection reports for centres in Dublin, Cork and Mayo have identified two critical and eight high-risk ratings for non-compliances on legal regulations.

One critical risk was imposed on St Catherine’s Ward in St Finbarr’s Hospital in Cork after it was found that the needs of one resident were not being met and that the health checks and records of several residents were "not properly carried out or retained".

Chief Executive of the Mental Health Commission John Farrelly said: “This is a very basic and critical requirement for residents in any of the approved centres across Ireland and it is simply not good enough that this standard of care is not being met."

Mandatory training

Additionally, not all health professionals at the centre were up to date on their mandatory training.

The same issue was found at St. Aloysius Ward in the Mater Hospital, Dublin and at St Anne’s Unit in the Sacred Heart Hospital, Castlebar.

“While we recognise the difficulties with recruitment and retention in the health sector, mandatory training is just that", Mr Farrelly said.

“You cannot be permitted to work in certain environments, including approved centres for mental health, if you do not have the critical training required."

"We are working with these approved centres to ensure they have a schedule of training in place for all staff to be properly trained as required.”

The Inspector of Mental Health Services, Dr Susan Finnerty, said that while the COVID-19 pandemic did pose challenges and cause issues for some approved centres, staff must keep up with mandatory training in order to provide safe care for residents.

“It is vitally important that the physical health of residents is monitored and treated where necessary. Failure to do so puts the resident at risk of serious illness.”

Main image shows the entrance to the Mater Hospital in Dublin. Picture by: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie