A state watchdog is raising concerns about a 'further decline' in the standard of Sligo-Leitrim's mental health unit. Its compliance rate has dropped by 30 per cent in two years. This acute mental health unit, run by the HSE, has 25 beds and is based at Sligo University Hospital. It opened in October 2020, at a cost of nearly 14 million euro, and replaced the outdated unit called St Columba's nearby. But the standard of its replacement unit is now being called into question, arising from a four-day inspection by the Mental Health Commission last August.
The inspector says the unit has moved from a steady improvement to a notable drop in compliance over the past two years. It says the overall picture is one of further decline this time. In 2023, it had a 97 per cent compliance rate but in this report, for 2025, this dropped to 67 per cent. The watchdog says the service has experienced a decline in its ability to consistently maintain the standards required to assure safe, high-quality, person-centred care and treatment.
It says this is influenced, in part, by ongoing capacity and staffing challenges. Inspectors found the unit wasn't 'kept in a good state of repair everywhere' and wasn't sufficiently staffed. The HSE has outlined to the commission how it's addressing these issues
