THE HEALTH Service Executive (HSE) has said that it has had to close some day and community services and suspend admissions to one acute mental health unit as a result of the on-going campaign of industrial action by psychiatric nurses.
The HSE said that in some parts of the country it was not receiving sufficient co-operation from the Psychiatric Nurses' Association (PNA) regarding levels of cover and that services were being hit.
"As a result of this action, the HSE has had to discontinue some day and community services and, in some instances, send clients home", it said.
Meanwhile, the Mental Health Commission (MHC) has expressed its concern that the current dispute between psychiatric nurses, Siptu and the HSE, is having a serious impact on the welfare of patients of approved centres.
The PNA, in a statement, said that it remained firm in its resolve to continue with the overtime ban which has been in place since last Wednesday.
The action is part of a campaign for a new compensation scheme for staff injured at work. The PNA said that the ban on overtime was highlighting the serious inadequacies in staffing levels throughout the mental health services.
It maintained that the HSE had moved to close a variety of community and in-patient facilities to shore up essential services.
The HSE said that the PNA dispute was particularly affecting services on the east coast.
"A critical situation currently exists at Naas General Hospital and it has been necessary to suspend admissions to the Lakeview acute mental health unit", it said.
The HSE said that its contingency plans at present included the re-deployment of staff from community and day services.
"Services that are short of nursing staff are being prioritised and covered by the redeployment of nurses from less critical areas. Regrettably, this has resulted in day services being cancelled and outings being cancelled", it said.
The HSE said that the dispute was unnecessary and that it had already introduced a no-fault compensation scheme for nurses in the mental health service from the beginning of the year.
It said that compensation amounts were for pain and suffering and included an element for psychological trauma. It said that the compensation scheme was in addition to a serious physical assault scheme and that nurses could also pursue a claim to the Personal Injury Assessment Board.
The PNA has rejected the HSE's compensation scheme as totally inadequate.
