Remedial works continue to fix heating at Ireland's state-of-the-art €200m mental hospital
Remedial works are being carried out at Ireland’s state-of-the-art forensic mental health facility to fix heating problems which affected the hospital for more than a week.The Central Mental Hospital accommodates people with severe psychiatric conditions who have offended. They are mainly sent by the courts as a result of either being ruled unfit to plead or after a judgement of not guilty by reason of insanity.There is also a small number of inmates transferred to the CMH, located in Portrane, north Dublin, from the prison system.The Irish Examiner reported on Tuesday that the €200m facility, which opened in November 2022, had no heating in most of the accommodation and living units since the previous Thursday.The collapse of the heating system also cut off the supply of hot water.The current heating problem is just the latest the hospital has had with the system, with previous media reports highlighting issues in November 2022, when staff and patients moved there, and significant issues during early 2023 and into 2024.When it was opened, in November 2022, the hospital was described by the Government as a “state-of-the-art, purpose-built facility”.This included a natural gas combined heat and power plant, a central energy centre with a “natural gas-fired medium temperature heating system”, as well as a heat recovery system.'Warm clothing' Notifications were sent to staff at the start of the week, in which it said patients, or residents, were being advised to wear “warm clothing” and that extra bedding was being provided for night time.It confirmed that “reduced heating capacity is affecting the High Secure Units (HSU), Medium Secure Units (MSU), Village Centre, and the Reception Building”.It said that, based on the “necessary risk assessment”, the hospital staff were setting up electric industrial heaters in affected areas to ensure room temperatures are “as comfortable [as possible] under the circumstances”.The notification pointed out that the heating system provides “a hot water supply to the hospital” and that this has been affected also.In response, it said it had “turned on the immersion” to ensure there is a hot water supply. It asked staff and patients to bear in mind that “when the immersion is depleted, it may take a couple of hours for the hot water to heat back up”.Management also advised patients and staff: “Individuals in the affected areas are encouraged to wear warm clothing over the next week and to not open windows unnecessarily, to prevent any heat loss.” A patient's kitchen in the women's accommodation at The Central Mental Hospital. A notification had said it had 'turned on the immersion' to ensure there is a hot water supply.File picture: Colin Keegan, Collins DublinThe heating faults came as a cold snap was forecast starting on Thursday and continuing into Saturday.It is understood that up to five of the nine accommodation units — three high-support and two medium-support — were affected. These five units amounted to 70 of the 112 operational beds in the facility.The hospital was supposed to accommodate 130 residents, and has capacity to cater for 170 people. Due to constraints, including difficulties in attracting psychiatric nurses, it has tended to stay at around the 110 mark.'Back on line' On Thursday, staff were told that management had received “an essential component" for the heating system and that work had commenced.A further notification went out today stating the heating had come “back on line” at 7.30pm on Thursday and that the underfloor heating was expected to be restored to desired temperature during Friday.Despite numerous attempts by the Irish Examiner this week, no comment was forthcoming from the HSE.
