I spoke with Patricia Messinger on C103 this week about: - latest Mental Health Commission Ireland report on the Owenacurra Centre - the clinical implications of new build proposals without interim service provision I also appealed to new HSE CEO Bernard Gloster to change course youtu.be/0-gajo0ChqQ

In a health system beset with problems the Owenacurra Centre stands out as an exceptionally good service that has brought stability & integration to the lives of people who might otherwise be living in precarious or limiting circumstances. Please Bernard Gloster don't close it🙏

People with high dependency/rehabilitation mental health needs have as much right to live in their community as anyone else. We need community mental health residences in our major towns, including Cobh and Youghal (as per A Vision for Change & the UNCRPD) for this client group.

Séamus Hempenstall, Principal Officer in Department of Health, told Neasa Hourigan TD at PAC in March 2022 the Owenacurra Centre was closing because of the "Mental Health Commission Ireland action". The Owenacurra Centre recently achieved 90% MHC compliance. St. Stephen's was 70% & St Catherine's Ward was 74%.

Please Bernard Gloster reverse this senseless closure. The rights of residents have been breached here. East Cork is being left without an invaluable service.

There are a lot of unanswered questions around this and none of the possible answers are palatable. Two things we know for certain: a resident of Owenacurra was transferred to St Stephen's, a facility with a far inferior MHC rating, before August 2022... irishexaminer.com/news/munster/a…

... and despite subsequent denials, the HSE's initial plan had been to transfer as many of Owenacurra's residents as it could to the Glanmire hospital irishexaminer.com/news/munster/a…

One other thing that would now appear to be clear: if the intensely vulnerable Owenacurra resident who transferred to St Stephen's ISN'T the transfer which led to the MHC prosecution, then to avoid that they would have first had to transfer to Carraig Mor, an intensive...

The HSE Board rubber-stamped Owenacurra closure last July despite detailed Health Committee briefings of ethical concerns. The HSE then attempted to accelerate the closure by offering residents inferior services outside East Cork. The Board were again made fully aware of this.

Letter from Cork HSE management to Owenacurra Centre residents in June 2021, announcing the devastating news of the closure. It emphasised they were moving because they deserved better, and particularly services that met the "high standards of the Mental Health Commission Ireland."

John Farrelly on Morning Ireland: we can't have people going into old fashioned wards sharing rooms. And yet that's exactly what Mental Health Commission Ireland signed off on when some Owenacurra Centre residents were being moved from a single-room town centre location to wards outside East Cork.

One of the many contradictions of the Mental Health Commission Ireland... Hard-hitting commentary on congregated settings alongside silence about HSE Capital Plans to build a 50-bed continuing care / rehabilitation service on the isolated grounds of St. Stephen’s Hospital, Glanmire.

HSE continue to tell Neasa Hourigan TD they do not know how many service-users were transferred to residential settings outside East Cork since Owenacurra stopped taking referrals in 2021. This is key information re the closure implications & easily accessible from local psychiatry.

This powerful appraisal of capital investment patterns in Cork mental health services by Sarah Harte in the Examiner today is essential reading for HSE Board members. Far-reaching implications here for people who have already suffered greatly in their lives. Bernard Gloster

Thank you Bernard Gloster for agreeing to visit the Owenacurra Centre. Please don't overlook those residents who were moved to inferior placements outside East Cork, thinking they had no other choice, and who will remain there indefinitely without your intervention.

The spread of 24-hour staffed community residences & MDT supports in Cork/Kerry does not remotely accord with gov't or HSE policy,except in North Cork. These decisions have far-reaching consequences for service-users with significant needs & should follow agreed national policy.

During our meeting with Bernard Gloster, I raised ethical concerns about the placements of some former Owenacurra residents. We sought a residential mental health service plan for CHO 4 that accords with A Vision for Change & the UNCRPD, citing North Cork provision as a model.

We appreciate that Bernard Gloster visited Owenacurra. Some residents were aware of your visit & others were not & we wonder how that happened. We hope you will protect the rights of residents moved outside East Cork & others who need the service to live in their community.