Ireland’s Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service will be better in a year’s time, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has promised.
Yesterday, the Mental Health Commission published a report into the CAMHS that highlighted a lack of staff in the service, as well as issues with retention and recruitment.
The report noted that there are still thousands of CAMHS patients on waiting lists – and provision varies across the country.
It also found “evidence of a dysfunctional team” working in one area and noted there were “serious concerns about the management of clinical files” in another.
Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, Minister Donnelly described it as a “very useful report” and said he had met the Mental Health Commission to discuss its findings.
When asked whether he could promise there would be improvements to CAMHS in a year’s time, Minister Donnelly said he could.
“Yes, I believe so,” he said.
“With the new clinical lead in place, we have a new national director coming in in the next few weeks.
“We have an increase in funding; I’m already talking to the HSE about the additional staffing, the additional funding [I am trying] to secure for them by the estimates process.
“We have 75 CAMHS teams in place.”
Waiting lists
Minister Donnelly said “critically” waiting lists have begun to fall and “what we have to do is keep that up consistently.”
“At the start of the summer, the waiting list was about 4,600,” he said.
“It has fallen over the summer to about 3,900.
“That’s partly because we put waiting list initiatives in place and new teams in place at the start of the year over the year and those teams are now beginning to do exactly what we would want them to do.”
Currently, six-in-seven children referred to CAMHS are being actively supported by the service and Minister Donnelly said the aim is to bring that up to all children who are referred.
“In fairness to CAMHS, the most urgent cases are getting access within 72 hours - so that is good,” he said.
“But we have to make sure that not six-in-seven but seven-in-seven children when referred, get the access.”
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Main image: Stephen Donnelly.
