St Patrick’s University Hospital

St Patrick's University Hospital is Ireland's largest independent, not-for-profit mental health hospital.

First founded in 1746, SPUH is the largest campus of St Patrick’s Mental Health Services (SPMHS) and is located in Dublin 8.

We provide diverse mental health services, offering care and treatment for a wide range of mental health difficulties, including anxiety, depression, alcohol or chemical dependence, dual diagnosis, bipolar disorder and more.

There are 241 beds available in SPUH. Inpatient treatment and care are provided by multidisciplinary teams (MDTs), made up of psychiatrists, registrars, ward-based nurses, occupational therapists, social workers, psychologists, cognitive behavioural therapists and family therapists. Accommodation is mainly available in ensuite single rooms. You can find out more about the facilities available in SPUH below, or see more on what to expect from inpatient care here.

Many of our day services are also delivered by teams based in SPUH, with some taking place onsite in the hospital, some delivered remotely, and others a combination of both. You can learn more about our day services here.

We also provide outpatient care through our Dean Clinic St Patrick’s and Adolescent Dean Clinic, based in SPUH. Find out more about the Dean Clinics here.

Hospital location

Situated on Steeven’s Lane in Dublin 8, between Heuston Station and St James’s Hospital, SPUH is close to Dublin city centre: you can find a map to the hospital here. The hospital is well served by public transport, with bus, rail and LUAS services all within a five to 10-minute walk. Limited paid parking is also available for visitors travelling by car.

  • Travelling by rail

    SPUH is less than five minutes away by foot from Heuston Station, which provides a wide range of commuter rail and national rail services.

  • Travelling by bus

    Dublin Bus operates a number of bus routes which stop within a three to five-minute walk from SPUH. Routes G1, G2, 13 and 123 stop along James’ Street, while the C1, C2, C3, C4, G1, 26, 52, or 145 routes stop at Heuston Station.

  • Travelling by Luas

    The Red Line Luas runs every five minutes and makes a quick link to SPUH; the journey takes between five and 10 minutes from Dublin city centre. The Heuston Station stop is a five-minute walk to SPUH.

Visiting information

Visiting information

We have visiting hours in place every weekday and at the weekends in SPUH. See our visiting information to learn more about visiting times and arrangements.

Throughout the ground floor and garden of SPUH, there are tables and seating available for visitors to spend time with their loved ones. We also have a dedicated space, the Wishing Well Family Room, for visitors and service users to use when children are visiting, with a number of games and activities that everyone can enjoy together available here.

Facilities

There is a wide range of facilities available in SPUH to support mental health recovery in a holistic way. You can find out more about these below: just click on the + signs beside each type of facility to see more, or scroll through the images in the gallery further below for a selection of photos. 

  • Wards

    There are eight wards in SPUH. We celebrate the legacy of our founder, Jonathan Swift, by naming each of these wards after him or a character in one of his novels. Three wards – Delaney, Grattan and Kilroot – are for general admissions. Vanessa is the ward where we provide care of the elderly; Clara is our ward for treating people experiencing eating disorders; our addictions service is based in the Temple ward; and the Dean Swift ward is our special care unit for acute admissions. The eighth ward in SPUH, Stella, provides care exclusively for female service users. All other wards are non-gendered.

  • Information and resources

    Our Information Centre is located close to the main reception in SPUH. Information on our services can be found in the centre, along with a range of mental health books and resources. See more about the Information Centre here.

    We have a Lecture Hall where we regularly hold talks and activities for service users, along with other events for a range of audiences.

    Our Service User Library provides a selection of newspapers and books. The library was formally presented to the hospital in November 1984 by the Association of the Friends of St Patrick's Hospital for the benefit of service users and staff.

  • Occupational therapy facilities

    Occupational therapy is an important part of the multidisciplinary care we provide. The main goal of occupational therapy is to support service users to take part in the everyday activities that matter to them. There are a wide range of occupational therapy facilities available within SPUH.

    There are a number of rooms where our service users can take part in creative and recreational activities. Painting, drawing and other art activities are available in the art room; knitting, bead-making and sewing facilities are available from the craft room; and pottery can be practised in our pottery room. A range of instruments are available to be played in The Sound Lounge, our music room, while a pool room is located on the ground floor of SPUH too.

  • Outdoor spaces

    We have a number of garden areas and green spaces in SPUH to provide rest and relaxation, as well as physical exercise opportunities.

    Our main garden area can be accessed from the main hospital building. There are a number of paths and walkways through the garden, with seating areas throughout the garden also. The Well Bean Café opens in the garden space in the summer months, with a range of takeaway refreshments available.

    We also have a therapeutic garden in SPUH, where a variety of shrubs, vegetables and flower beds are grown and gardening groups take place.

    A mini-golf course, table tennis and varied exercise equipment are available in the main garden area of SPUH too.

  • Gym

    Physical health and exercise are important to our mental health. We have a well-equipped gym available in SPUH. Tailored exercise plans are available, as are yoga classes, pilates classes, and circuit training. 

  • Restaurant and shop

    Ridgeways Restaurant is located to the rear of the main reception area in SPUH. It is open to service users, visitors and staff throughout the day. A number of dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and a range of snacks and takeaway foods, are available here each day.

    There is a small shop opposite the entrance to Ridgeways open during the day and early evenings, where barista coffee, snacks, drinks, newspapers, magazines, cards, postage stamps, and toiletries can be purchased. While we do not have an ATM onsite in SPUH, there is a cashback facility available in the shop.

    There are vending machines with snacks located in common areas throughout the hospital too.

  • GP and pharmacy services

    We provide a GP Primary Care Service in the main hospital building for our inpatient service users. The aim of the service, which is an appointment-only service, is to improve the physical health of our service users. From Monday to Friday, the GP is available for morning or afternoon clinics, and there are two practice nurses who are available from 9am to 5pm.

    We have a pharmacy onsite in SPUH. The pharmacy provides dispensing services for inpatients and service users in limited outpatient clinics. Over the counter products are not sold.  

  • Technology supports

    Complimentary Wifi is available to service users and visitors.

    Our Service User IT Support (SUITS) team runs a walk-in service on weekday afternoons in the SUITS Tutorial Room, based on the ground floor of SPUH. You can learn more about the SUITS walk-in service here.

  • Beauty services

    A range of beauty and hairdressing services for service users can be accessed in SPUH. There is a hairdressing room and beauty therapy room on the ground floor of the hospital, with a beauty therapist and hairdresser visiting weekly.

  • Religious services

    A non-denominational oratory is located on the ground floor of SPUH. Mass services are hosted by a Roman Catholic Chaplain here. Visits from other religious representatives can be facilitated on request.

  • Postal services

    There is an external post box located at the main reception desk. Stamps can be purchased in the hospital shop.

Continue to…

St Patrick's, Lucan

See visiting information for SPUH

See visiting information for SPUH

Learn more about our multidisciplinary teams

Learn more about our multidisciplinary teams

Queries

For general queries, please call us. For more on mental health and our services, see our frequently asked questions (FAQs).

01 249 3200 See our FAQs

Referrals

Contact Referral and Assessment Service for queries regarding referrals to our services.

01 249 3635 See more from our referrals team