St John of God reaches deal with HSE to continue providing community services

The Health Service Executive (HSE) has reached an agreement with St John of God Community Services which will enable the organisation to continue providing intellectual disability and mental health services.

St John of God Community Services, part of the wider St John of God Hospitaller Services Group, is funded by the HSE to provide services to 8,000 children and adults on behalf of the State. The voluntary organisation has been in negotiations with the HSE for several years over what it says is a significant shortfall in its funding.

It told the HSE last month that if it did not secure a bailout of more than €30 million in funding it would have to hand over responsibility to run its community services to the State. Earlier this month the organisation gave notice to the HSE that it intended to cease providing these services by the middle of August this year, following a “failure” to come to an agreement on funding.

The organisation employs around 3,000 staff and provides care to 2,500 people with intellectual disabilities, as well as 5,500 adult and youth patients in mental health services.

In a joint statement on Wednesday, the HSE and St John of God Community Services said the provider would “continue to deliver its full range of services at all existing locations”. The announcement followed 10 days of “intensive discussions” between the two sides, it said.

[ Q&A: What is happening at St John of Gods? ]

The statement said there had been an agreement and time frame “to arrive at a time-bound implementation plan” for the outcome of negotiations on funding.

“There is a commitment to the in-year funding for 2024, and there is a guaranteed time frame within which final decisions will be made about the issues arising from the historical deficit in St John of God Community Services,” it said.

The organisation previously said it had built up a financial deficit of more than €30 million, due to HSE funding falling short of covering the annual cost of providing care.

Clare Dempsey, chief executive of the provider, said the deal was a “positive outcome for all parties and is certainly in the best interests of the 8,000 people to whom we provide intellectual disability and mental health services around the country”.

Families and staff had asked the voluntary organisation to “do all in our power to retain the service,” she said.

[ St John of God order warned for years it could no longer ‘bail out’ services ]

HSE chief executive Bernard Gloster said he was pleased an agreement had been found to enable the provider to continue to deliver its services.

“I know that this resolution will be a great relief to those who avail of these services, their families, and the staff who provide them at over 300 centres around the country,” he said.

In a statement, Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities Anne Rabbitte said she was “delighted” St John of God would not be handing over the running of its services to the HSE. “This positive outcome will be a relief for many who were anxiously awaiting developments,” she said.

A group representing families of thousands of people using St John of God mental health and disability services had previously said they were “deeply concerned” at the suggestion the voluntary organisation would stop running the services.

St John of God Community Services previously told the HSE it would cease providing the community services in late 2020. However following an appeal the provider paused its decision and entered into negotiations around future funding.

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