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	Staff send letter to mental health service national director</h2>
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		Senior mental health service managers in Co Galway have sought an &ldquo;urgent external review&rdquo; of a decision by the HSE, the&nbsp;<a class="search" href="http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_organisation=Health%20Service%20Executive&amp;article=true" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); text-decoration: none; outline: none !important;">Health Service Executive</a>, to abandon use of a recently refurbished &euro;2.8 million unit in Ballinasloe in favour of an older facility in Roscommon.</p>
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		The HSE has confirmed that the national director of mental health services Dr<a class="search" href="http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_person=Stephen%20Mulvany&amp;article=true" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); text-decoration: none; outline: none !important;">Stephen Mulvany</a>&nbsp;has received a letter, which will be responded to in &ldquo;due course&rdquo;.</p>
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		The refurbished 22-bed unit at St Brigid&rsquo;s Hospital in Ballinasloe was due to have been handed over for use last Friday.</p>
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		&ldquo;As senior clinical staff, we have grave concerns about the decision-making process, the decision itself and its communications,&rdquo; the senior managers in east Galway state in their letter to Dr Mulvany.</p>
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		&ldquo;We have been told that the decision is final and will proceed. As we believe this decision is flawed from a clinical governance standpoint, we now have no option but to advocate for our patients beyond HSE West management structures.&rdquo;</p>
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		The managers have said they have &ldquo;no confidence&rdquo; in the current area management team for mental health services in the east Galway area.<br />
		&ldquo;We believe the decision is not clinically prudent if optimum patient care was the priority for the decision-makers,&rdquo; they say in a letter on July 29th.</p>
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		Trade unions Siptu and Impact have already expressed anger at a &ldquo;points system&rdquo; which has been cited as justification for keeping the&nbsp;<a class="search" href="http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_organisation=Roscommon%20County%20Hospital&amp;article=true" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); text-decoration: none; outline: none !important;">Roscommon County Hospital</a>facility open at the expense of the Ballinasloe unit.</p>
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		The points system found Roscommon was better in terms of location, emergency access and proximity to accident and emergency services.</p>
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		It outscored Ballinasloe by 10 to three in terms of proximity to a major hospital, by seven to five in accessibility to medical services and by seven to five for road access, including access for emergency vehicles.</p>
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		The managers note that the scoring is &ldquo;patently outrageous&rdquo; in terms of proximity to a major or regional hospital, as St Brigid&rsquo;s in Ballinasloe is just 2.5km from Portiuncula hospital and much closer to University Hospital Galway than Roscommon hospital.</p>
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		In addition, Roscommon no longer has an accident and emergency department, and there is a motorway &ndash; the N6 &ndash; between Ballinasloe and Galway, which cuts travel times.</p>
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		&ldquo;Whilst we were informed that the process was independent and transparent, we have been unable to gain any clarity on the evidence and facts used to support the scoring,&rdquo; the managers state.</p>
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		They point out that the Ballinasloe refurbishment includes a state-of-the-art observation unit for patients in distress, whereas Roscommon will need to be upgraded, yet Roscommon outscored St Brigid&rsquo;s by 10 to three in this category.<br />
		&ldquo;We are now being informed that further investment will be required in the existing area in Roscommon to bring this up to standard and provide a more suitable environment for patients. How then could Roscommon score the maximum points under this heading in its current state?&rdquo; they ask.</p>
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		The managers say they cannot understand how a facility which has just been refurbished, at a cost of &euro;2.8 million, could be seen as less modern than the department of psychiatry at Roscommon hospital which was last fully refurbished more than two decades ago.</p>
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		HSE West said the scoring system was developed by an independent review group in consultation with clinicians and senior nurse management.</p>
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		<a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/clinical-staff-in-west-angry-over-decision-on-2-8m-psychiatric-unit-1.1495620">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/clinical-staff-in-west-angry-over-decision-on-2-8m-psychiatric-unit-1.1495620</a></p>
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