HSE must find alternative placements for several Irish placements at English mental health hospital
High Court Reporter
The HSE must find alternative placements for several vulnerable Irish patients after being unexpectedly told they should be removed from a mental health hospital in England due to safety concerns.
High Court president David Barniville, under whose orders some of the patients have been placed at St Andrew’s Healthcare in Northampton, said the decision by the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) earlier this month came as a “bolt from the blue” to the HSE and the court.
The judge noted the HSE has made enquiries and has identified no concerns relating to Irish patients.
In its published letter of March 9th, NHS England told its commissioners to identify alternative placements for inpatients at St Andrew’s Northampton site.
This followed enforcement action against the charity hospital last December on foot of two inspection reports that rated the service “inadequate”.
The second report raised “significant concerns about culture at the organisation and the processes that allow staff to speak up”, NHS England said.
NHS England said it still did not have adequate assurance that patient safety was improving at the necessary rate. Its concerns about patient safety remained by March 9th, so it “must act now to ensure patients receive the care and treatment they deserve”, it said.
Barniville on Tuesday reviewed the cases of seven Irish patients who have been placed at the hospital on foot of High Court orders secured by the HSE.
Patients are generally only placed abroad when their specific needs cannot be met by providers in this State.
The HSE’s barrister, Paul Brady, said NHS England’s decision of March 9th came as a “shock” to the Irish health service and appears to have been a surprise to St Andrew’s too.
He said the HSE believed Irish patients were safe and benefitting from the service. No safety or welfare concerns have been identified relating to the Irish patients, the court heard.
The HSE is trying to refer the individuals to other services while simultaneously seeing if they can be part of arrangements being made by NHS England. Brady said the priority since the news broke has been to ensure patients receive continuity of care.
Despite significant engagement by the HSE, Brady said, it “still doesn’t understand the specific reasons” for the NHS England decision other than those communicated publicly.
Barniville noted there have been “no concerns” communicated about the welfare of Irish patients at the hospital.
While one patient is due to return to Ireland, he said the HSE faces a “headache” to source alternative UK placements for the others. He noted the HSE and its solicitor Katharine Kelleher have been working “tirelessly” to get to the bottom of the situation.
“The HSE hasn’t even been able to obtain from the NHS what precisely was the reason for its decision,” he said, adding that welfare reports have been issued for some of the Irish patients and there is “no immediate risk” to any of them.
One of the patient’s mothers told the court, through tears, that it was “unacceptable” she was first learning through the court that the HSE plans to remove patients from St Andrew’s.
She questioned why the HSE was following a decision it did not understand and said the service has been home for her son for several years after he was “exported out of Ireland”.
The judge said no decisions about individual placements have been made and nothing will be done without prior court approval. He is due to receive further updates about the situation in mid-April.
