Mum speaks out after daughter suddenly discharged from Iveagh Centre

By Michelle NapierA distressed mother has described how her daughter was discharged at short notice from the Iveagh Centre in Belfast due to staffing shortages.

The inpatient centre is Northern Ireland’s regional unit for children and young people who have mental health and complex learning disabilities.

Jeanna Kelly from Belfast was phoned by staff on Friday September 16, as she was travelling to the Garth Brooks concert in Dublin, to be told that she needed to collect her daughter Shannon from the centre as they had a shortage of staff.

Jeanna said that she could not pick her up until the Saturday and then had 15 minutes to gather her daughter’s belongings.

Jeanna added: "I have never suffered anxiety like it in my life, I actually felt sick that day.”

Within 15 minutes of being home, 13-year-old Shannon had started to bite her hands and was banging her head on the living room floor.

Jeanna said she had no choice but to bring her daughter back to the Iveagh Centre.

Since Wednesday September 21, Shannon had to be moved to another facility due to ongoing staff shortages at the Iveagh Centre which has also affected other children who had been residents there.

In a statement, the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust said: “The Belfast Trust accepts that the current staffing arrangements at the Iveagh Centre are challenging.

"Staffing levels are kept under ongoing review in order to maintain the highest levels of care and the centre remains open.

“It is recognised that difficulties exist in relation to expediting timely discharges from Iveagh and other learning disability settings.

“It is recognised that further work is needed to recalibrate community services.”

A mental health solicitor from the Children’s Law Centre who has been helping families who have had children in residence at the Iveagh Centre said that there needed to be a ‘robust support package ‘ in place for discharged patients and families to ensure its success.

He also said that the discharge of all patients needs to be carefully planned.

Mr McNally said: “Anyone who is going to be discharged from the Iveagh Centre needs to be discharged in a very planned way.

"There needs to be social stories done for the young people, they need to be prepared for the move, there needs to be work done with the family to ensure they have the help that they need."

He also said there needs to be robust assessments done. He added: “The speed of the discharge that has had to happen here has meant that that hasn’t been a reality.

"The truth of the matter is that these [discharges] are never going to be successful without the proper structures being there.”

Mr McNally said: “The Belfast Trust needs to recruit appropriate staff at an appropriate level so that this never happens again.”

Shannon’s mother Jeanna said that she believes her daughter and other children have been ‘failed’ by the Belfast Trust.

She added: “The children have no rights and there are people who are left to do this on their own, every day, it’s not just me. It’s as if they don’t matter, that these children are classed as problem children and they are not.

“They have as much rights as any other child in this world. There should be more there for them and they should be made to feel extra special because of their needs.”

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