Central Mental Hospital, Dundrum (Dublin)

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  RORERT CARTHY (guest)

  FRANKY DOLAN, IS HE A PACIENT

  17 years ago | reply | hide comment
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  fogaslan

  Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum was the first secure hospital in Europe. The Central Mental Hospital provided care and treatment to mentally disordered offenders for the entire thirty-two counties up until partition in 1922. Today, the Central Mental Hospital accommodates circa eighty patients. It provides treatment under conditions of special security for mentally disordered individuals who present with dangerous, violent or criminal propensities and patients who have exceeded the capacity of their local service. Intensive psychiatric treatment and rehabilitation is provided by five Consultant lead multi-disciplinary teams in a structured therapeutic environment. The hospital is fully accredited by the Royal College of Psychiatrists for training purposes. It functions very much as a hospital which provides asylum for its patients, many who through one reason or another have lost contact with their own local psychiatric service. The fabric of the main building is poor and some wards are unsuitable for acutely disturbed patients due to the excess of potential ligature points. Investment in modernisation is therefore long overdue. The Central Mental Hospital is built on a 34 acre site, four miles from Dublin City centre and thus within easy access to courts and the main prisons. However, in order to finance a programme of modernisation, the Irish Government decided that the present campus at Dundrum would be sold and the oldest secure hospital in Europe will be relocated to a less expensive site outside of Dublin at Thornton Hall. The previous Minister for Justice proposed that the new hospital will share a site with the new Mountjoy Prison Complex. This is being met with great resistance by mental health advocate groups, who put forward the argument that such close proximity will add further stigma to an already disadvantaged group. The Central Mental Hospital Carers Group and many other mental health and human rights groups, are campaigning to have this decision reversed.

  16 years ago | reply | hide comment