Health officials offer “sincere apology” for “misinformation” given to Sligo county councillor
Cllr was wrongly told by health officials that process to appoint urgently needed consultant to help young Sligo people with moderate to severe mental health issues had begun
HOW senior health officials gave a Sligo County Councillor totally inaccurate information about efforts to appoint an urgently needed consultant to treat young people in Sligo who have moderate to severe mental health difficulties emerged this week when the councillor received what was described as “a sincere apology” for being given what turned out to be totally inaccurate information.
The erroneous information was given to Cllr Declan Bree in September 2023 at a meeting of the Regional Health Forum West and after persistent questioning since then at subsequent meetings by the veteran Sligo politician, he was offered a “sincere apology” for the mistake on Tuesday last where he again asked a series of questions about the process to have a consultant appointed.
Reacting to the admission that there was a mistake which appears to have taken months to emerge, Cllr Bree told Tuesday’s meeting of the Regional Health Forum West in Galway that he was “unhappy and dissatisfied” with what he had now learned - that he had been misinformed.
“To say I am unhappy and dissatisfied with the response to this question would be an understatement,” he told the meeting.
He later told members: “I have little confidence in what I am hearing from the top table.”
The error will be seen as a major gaffe by officials who were at pains to assure Cllr Bree that every effort will now be made to have the consultant appointed.
Accepting the apology for what was described as a “misinformation” error, Cllr Bree said that while he took on board the apology, the fact remained that the urgently needed service was, six months after he first raised the issue, still not available in Sligo, Leitrim or Donegal.
Cllr Bree explained how in September last year when he queried why there was no Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Intellectual Disability service in the Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal area, he was told that approval was in place to progress the recruitment of the consultants required for this service and that recruitment process has commenced.
Quoting the response he said: “We look forward to these consultants being appointed and commencing this service in these counties.
“At the time I highlighted a number of children in the area who didn’t meet the normal CAMHS criteria and therefore required the input of a CAMHS intellectual disability specialist.
“At the last meeting of the forum at the end of February I sought a progress report, and I asked how many consultants were to be recruited and where the posts were advertised, a final date of receipt of applications, the number of applications received and when it was expected that the successful candidates would be appointed and when the service was expected to be operational.
“In response to my question I was told by the Chief Officer Tony Canavan that one post was to be filled.
“We were told that the post was advertised on the HSE website, that there were three applicants, these were received and at interview two candidates were successful but neither of them accepted the post.
“We were also told that the post had been filled from an agency from January 30 this year on a three-day week basis and we were told the permanent appointment application was submitted to the Consultants’ Application Advisory Committee (CAAC) for approval on January 12.
“I wasn’t comfortable with that reply, and I wrote to the Chief Officer (Mr Canavan) asking to be provided with a copy of the advertisement which was referred to.”
Normally at regional health forum meetings members are not allowed to speak for more than five minutes but when this time had elapsed, and this was pointed out the chair told Cllr Bree to continue speaking.
Cllr Bree went on to reveal how he submitted a question for Tuesday’s meeting (March 26, 2023), noting that members had been told at the last meeting of the health forum that a consultant post had been filled by an agency for three days and that an additional permanent post application had been submitted to the CAAC.
He said he had asked that members would be provided with an update on the service including details relating to the level of staffing, the number of young people on the list and the average length of time a young person is expected to wait for a consultation with the service.
He said what he read in a written reply to his queries confirmed what he had suspected all along: “The reply we have received clearly confirms my suspicions.
“We now know there was no agency CAMHS intellectual disability consultant post filled on January 30 and there is still no CAMHS Intellectual Disability Service in Sligo Leitrim.
“Last September we were told approval was in place to progress with recruitment of the consultant required for the service and the process had commenced.
“Six months later we are being told that the necessary applications to seek national and CAAC approval is currently being processed as a priority with what is described as medical manpower.
“I have very little confidence in what I am hearing from the top table,” he said.
TWO CASES HIGHLIGHTED
Cllr Bree then went on to remind members of two particularly traumatic cases where Sligo families were dealing with loved ones with severe mental health issues and how those families had believed that progress was being made when they read newspaper reports from meetings of the forum suggesting the process was underway: “Last year I highlighted the case of a nine-yearold girl who was non-verbal and had a history of autism spectrum disorder requiring very substantial support and when referred to the CAMHS service in Sligo in September 2022 it was decided because she showed a moderate severe intellectual disability, she didn’t meet the normal CAMHS criteria and therefore required the input of the CAMHS Intellectual Disability specialist.
“However, when the child’s mother sought out the service, she was told there was no such service in Sligo or Leitrim.
“Another family told me about their seven-year-old son who cannot get a diagnosis of ADHD. He was referred to the CAMHS team by his GP, his consultant paediatrician, and his consultant psychologist but the CAMHS team refused to see him on the basis that he had a severe to profound intellectual disability.
“His paediatrician wrote to CAMHS intellectual disability in Galway seeking assistance, but the boy was refused because he didn’t live in the Galway catchment area.
“So, the boy’s GP highlighted the chronic, unbelievable, exhausting, unrelenting and numbing stress his mother and family had endured in minding him to keep him safe.
“These families and others were so relieved when they read reports from the last meeting of the regional health forum indicating that a partial three-day CAMHS Intellectual Disability Service had been established.
“They were extremely pleased and now all their hopes have been dashed.
“They are very much aware that such a service is available to children in other parts of the country, but because they reside in Sligo, Leitrim, or Donegal, they have no services.
“In my view, this is a terrible indictment on the management of the HSE and its appalling failure to provide basic services for children with intellectual disability.
“I don’t intend to let this rest, I will be demanding action and seeking updates at our forthcoming meeting.”
OFFICIAL RESPONSE
Maria Ferguson, Head of Human Resources, responding to Cllr Bree, said her first wish was to apologise to him:
“What I want to do first is to sincerely apologise for the misinformation which was given at the meeting.”
Offering an explanation for the error she said there were two vacant consultant psychiatrist positions in CAMHS, but these are not specialists in Intellectual Disability Services.
“Regrettably that was the detail that was shared in error with you Cllr Bree at the last meeting.
“We do have two consultant psychiatry posts that are filled by agency posts at the moment, both are advertised for permanent filling with the public appointments service, but that relates to the misinformation given at the last meeting.
“In relation to the CAMHS Intellectual Disability posts, historically there were two positions, one aligned to Sligo Leitrim, and one aligned to Donegal. Regrettably, they have not been filled to date, despite efforts to try to entice candidates, including candidates from the UK and further afield into those roles,” she said.
Outlining what steps will now be taken to rectify the situation and get a consultant appointed to service Sligo/Leitrim and another to work in Donegal, Ms Ferguson said: “A decision has now been taken to seek approval for one whole time equivalent (WTE) post for the CAMHS Intellectual Disability post in Sligo Leitrim and one for Donegal. We are seeking that approval from the Consultant Applications Advisory Committee (CAAC).
“Once that approval has been given from CACC, once that is given, pending the permanent filling of both positions we will be seeking by an Agency appointment in the interim as a priority.
“There is a CACC meeting in April and in May and it is our full intention to seek full approval to proceed with one whole time equivalent position for Sligo Leitrim CAMHS Intellectual Disability service.
“Also, what we wish to say is that notwithstanding the fact we don’t have a specialist consultant, if there are practical things we can do within our wider healthcare support, we need to do our very best via external or funded agencies to support families and young people who are looking for those services.
“If there are any cases with particular complexities, we are very open to having those cases brought to our attention. We will commit as a priority to follow those up as well.”
She then repeated the apology she had offered to cllr Bree at the start of her remarks: “Again, I wish to apologise for the incorrect information that was given to you at the last meeting and to reaffirm our commitment to fill the one whole time equivalent Intellectual Disability position in Sligo Leitrim.”
Cllr Bree said he welcomed the fact that a whole-time equivalent consultant will be appointed for Sligo Leitrim and another for Donegal.
Ms Ferguson, responding to Cllr Bree on the up-to-date position and his question if the submission already been made to the CACC for approval for those positions, said the funding submission letter has been submitted to the regional executive officer for confirmation which will go in with the application.
“All the paperwork is ready to go to the CACC. We have committed as the CHO1 area that funding will be provided in our mental health services budget. So, funding and costs is not our deciding criteria in relation to this post, we have identified this as a critical post for filling.”
On hearing this information, Cllr Bree commented: “I want it to be noted then that the application has still not gone in and last September we were told that approval was in place to progress the approval of the consultants required in Sligo Leitrim and in Donegal.
“The point is, it hasn’t been submitted to date, but I accept what I have been told and we will follow this up in due course.”
Ms Ferguson agreed to provide an update to Cllr Bree on the submission of the paperwork which she repeated is ready and completed.