Labour Court recommends consultation on mental health service changes

The Labour Court recommended further consultation between HSE South (St Senans Hospital) and PNA, the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union and the Irish Municipal, Public and Civil Trade Union over mental health service reconfiguration in Waterford and Wexford. The recommendation was signed on 26 January 2011. The unions said they had not been adequately consulted on the plans and their implementation; management said it had offered opportunities to engage. The Court found that the consultation process described in management’s earlier commitments complied with the Public Service Agreement, while saying consultation must be meaningful, genuine and conducted in good faith. It recommended engagement on the plans, including separating time-critical measures from the rest, and said the unions should cooperate with implementation.