‘We need more mental health workers fast’

Fewer than half of the youth mental health roles promised for Kerry 11 years ago have been provided

ELEVEN years after the Government set a target of having 175 youth mental health workers serving Kerry and Cork, just 86 are employed in the sector.

The failure of the policy, described as ‘shameful’ this week, comes as existing mental health workers struggle to cope with spiralling demand - amid evidence that children and teens experiencing mental health difficulties are faced with inordinate delays to access even the first stage of services.

The figures were released to Fianna Fáil this week, showing that just 86 ‘whole time equivalents’ (WTEs) currently staff the sector - fewer than half of the 175 set out in the ‘Vision for Change’ plan 11 years ago.

“Despite a Vision for Change being published more than 11 years ago, the number of staff dedicated to providing child and adolescent mental healthcare services (CAMHS) in the Kerry and Cork region is nowhere near what was envisaged in the strategy,” Kerry Fianna Fáil TD John Brassil warned.

The investment is needed more than ever now following a recession that, while slashing the public coffers, severely impacted the mental health of all generations.

Deputy Brassil said the current state of the services ‘simply isn’t good enough’: “The Kerry and Cork region needs an additional 89 WTEs to keep pace with demographic changes. Compared to 2016, we have stayed still. The gap between current staffing levels and what is required under a Vision for Change remained the same. This simply isn’t good enough at a time when there are no out of hours CAMHS services and inexplicably and dangerously high waiting lists for access to services and treatment,” he said.

He warned that continued failure to meet the long-established targets would mean that it would be decades before the provision of a fully functional CAMHS.

“More than 11 years after its publication, this is shameful. The HSE must expand its overseas recruitment in countries other than the UK. In addition, the Department must allow more specialists to be trained and educated.”