The HSE says that patient care is the priority focus for South East Community Healthcare.
However, they acknowledge that there can be instances of overcapacity in the Department of Psychiatry and they apologise to any patients affected.
They say that the unit had to deal with an unusually high number of involuntary referrals over the last week and that they are obliged to admit these patients in the interests of their own safety.
The HSE added that in some cases patients will, unfortunately, need to wait overnight for a bed and that they make every effort to make them as comfortable as possible as trolleys are not permitted to be used in the psychiatric unit.
The HSE says that safe levels of nursing are always adhered to and that additional staff are brought in when the unit is overcrowded.
They added that it's a recognised national and international problem recruiting staff in this area and that they make use of agency staff or overtime to fill rosters when needed.
South East Community Healthcare does not employ or contract security guards. They say that agency administration staff who are deployed at the DoP facility are there to support administration. They are not acting in a security capacity and are not involved in patient care and supervision.
The HSE says that maintaining a client's confidentiality is an ethical and legal requirement for them adding that when a client or family makes personal information public, this doesn't relieve their duty to uphold confidentiality at all times
