HSE Scoring Sheet, Part 2

Welcome folks, 

Here is the second part of our walk through the scoring system used by the HSE to justify their plan to close an acute psychiatric ward in Ballinasloe, which serves the entire Galway East constituency. Make sure you read part 1 first. 


Question 7
Is the location suitable in providing adequate office space, interview rooms for the unit based and visiting teams?

Roscommon: 5 (average)
Ballinasloe: 5 (average)

Ahem. Again. €2.8 million spent on the unit in Ballinasloe last year. Maybe the HSE needs to sack someone if we're still only getting an average mark here after all that money. We're also keenly aware that the Roscommon unit definitely hasn't had as much investment in it in recent years - and it's a much older unit. So we're not quite sure why Ballinasloe hasn't won out in this category.

Question 8:
Is the location suitable suitable [sic] to provide 'cross cover' when required? 

Roscommon: 5 (average)
Ballinasloe: 5 (average)

Yet another question that is really asking "How does this facility rate in terms of proximity to other medical facilities?" This is the fifth time we've come across this question (See questions 1, 2, 4 and 6 of our previous post. You might even count question 5 if you think proximity to a primary route is important.) We don't know about our fellow taxpayers, but we think it's pretty ridiculous that the HSE would repeat the same question so many times over when there are many more important ones they could - well, should - be asking, given the ramifications of this decision. 

Yet: Despite having posted pretty much the same question several times now, the HSE STILL fails to answer it correctly. We'd like to draw their attention towards the map in our previous post just to remind them that the Ballinasloe unit, has a higher grade hospital than the unit in Roscommon, and it's conveniently located right on the M6 so if a patient needs to get more specialist care, Galway University Hospital is not far. 

Question 9:
Is the location suitable in providing a modern acute in-patient facility?

Roscommon: 7 (above average)
Ballinasloe: 5 (average)

Umm...it is a modern actue in-patient facility. It has always has been an in-patient facility. 

Is it suitable? A whole community and practically a county full of highly trained, experienced medical staff and consultants seem to think it's just fine - in fact, they seem to think it's a VITAL CRUCIAL SERVICE worth hanging on to. Surely after spending €2.8 million refurbishing it suitability shouldn't be up for debate. We know the Roscommon unit was not so fortunate in terms of financial investment last year.

I'd utter a polite "we're a little confused" but at this stage, as you can see, a few things are crystal clear. One of which is that not a single thought was spared on the formulation of these questions - let alone the marks that answer them.

Question 10:
Is the site suitable as regards the availability and capacity of the onsite catering facilities required to support the acute unit?

Roscommon: 7 (above average)
Ballinasloe: 7 (above average)

At last, question we haven't already answered several times already and a mark that makes sense. 

Oh LOGIC, how we've missed you.

Question 11:
Is the site suitable as regards supporting excellence and continuing staff development with the ability to attract and retain appropriate staff/staff development?

Roscommon: 5 (average)
Ballinasloe: 5 (average)

This question is an insult to both units, and it shouldn't even be here. We'd like to point out that an inanimate object like a "site" is not what ensures the support of excellence, nor the continuity of staff development. It is a well run, communicative management team the supports and sustains staff excellence. True, an untended, undeveloped facility can hinder it; but a facility where staff are treated with respect, where they are a member of a team - places like this simply do not have problems retaining staff.

For the record, there's nothing wrong with the site (cough€2.8millioncoughcough). We wish we could say the same for the current management structure. If the way HSE has handled this issue, from a basic lack of compassion to mind-bogglingly poor communication, if these things do not drive qualified, expert staff away, nothing will. This document alone gives us ample evidence that the management structure here seem dedicated to destroying excellence in all its forms. This whole issue has caused staff morale to drop to an all time low in Galway AND Roscommon.

Also: note. The whole country is still groaning under the weight of a crippling recession. Finding qualified staff to invest in isn't hard - retaining them isn't either. Jobs aren't easy to come by these days. Even if we lived in a parallel universe where finding highly qualified nursing staff in Ireland was a problem, would it make sense to shut down a badly needed medical facility over those problems? No.It would make sense for the HSE to actually SOLVE such problems, rather than acting like a child of four who wants to stop the game because they're not winning. Does this question read like something that comes from a well oiled management team, carefully deliberating over a difficult, complex decision?

Here we have the HSE holding the units in Roscommon and Ballinasloe responsible for the HSE's lack of efficient management. Shame on them. If staff development and staff retention are issues, then the HSE is accountable.

Everyone throughout communities in Roscommon and Ballinasloe will attest to the dedication of the staff in both units. As soon as they clock out in the evening, instead of resting many of them are calling politicians, campaigning tirelessly to save this unit because they care about the service users. They care about the community. But then, the person who created this document up would know that if they had ever actually been to Ballinasloe or Roscommon. You might guess from the amount of times we've had to reference a map over these last two entries that we're not really hopeful on that score.

Question 12:
Degree of abnormal cost anticipated due to any potential decanting or enabling works? (high score represents lowest cost option)

Roscommon: 10 (excellent)
Ballinasloe: 10 (excellent)

The HSE have been quoted as saying that Roscommon will need a large amount of investment to be brought up to the standard of the unit in Ballinasloe. How could we possibly be equal here?

Question 13:
Does the Unit adversely impact on other site facilities or planned projects? (high score represents lowest cost option)

Roscommon: 10 (excellent)
Ballinasloe: 10 (excellent)

We're not quite sure how this is relevant, but I guess someone in the HSE just really likes the number 13. It does seem to suit them. Curiously if they really cared about the answer to this question then they'd need to revisit their plans to develop a new unit in Galway, wouldn't they?


So there you have it. A thrown together heap of poorly thought out questions, complete with marks that defy logic and in several cases, the geographical make up of our country. Is this the lack of respect the HSE has for mental illness in Ireland? 

Unsurprisingly, no. We don't think this document is a sign of a lack of respect, it's a sign of something much worse: corruption. This document was created to fob people off, or create the impression of a done deal. They have not presented us with one single good reason to close the GE22 unit here. Not one. What they have shown quite clearly is that the real reasons aren't open for discussion. They're not even attempting to pretend it's a budgeting thing - Because this is nothing to do with money. This document had to pass through several pairs of hands before it was approved. It's not possible that none of them noticed how intrinsically flawed it was. This is about political bias. 

Just to make ourselves crystal clear: What's gone on here is a result of either stupidity or political bias. And we don't actually believe that the people working for the HSE are stupid. We believe they've had their orders from higher up. And THAT is truly, truly awful.

If you care about the Galway East 22, if you care about fighting corruption within our healthcare system, share this article, call your TDs about this and encourage others to do the same. 

Until next time. 

GE22 team.