CAMHS service on the verge of ‘major
Crisis’
THE HSE has said its had put a raft of measures in place to address the waiting list in Cork for access to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).
This after figures released by Cork Kerry Community Healthcare on foot of a parliamentary question to Health Minister Simon Harris by Cork South- Central Fianna Fáil TD Michael McGrath, showing there were 650 young people in Cork on the waiting list.
This included 113 children who had been waiting for more than a year to get an appointment.
Deputy McGrath said the fact that almost one fifth of the total number on the list had been waiting for 12 months or longer to access the service was “unacceptable.”
He said that 13 years after the HSE published its ‘A Vision for Charge’ strategy document, which set out the direction for Irish mental health services over a 7-10year time-frame, children were still waiting “inappropriately long periods of time” for an appointment with the CAMHS service.
“Just over half of the recommended staff numbers for CAMHS are in place. The HSE itself has acknowledged that a consultant vacancy in the Cork North Central team has had a ‘significant impact on waiting lists’. There needs to be a greater sense of urgency from government to tackle this issue,” said Deputy McGrath.
“Problems with staffing are undoubtedly having an impact on waiting times, but this is cold comfort to the children and their families who are dealing with mental health issues,” he added.
Deputy McGrath warned that despite recognition that early intervention was vitally important, waiting times of more than a year made it “inevitable that some children will fall through the cracks.
“CAMHS is heading for a major crisis unless urgent action is taken. The government strategy for CAMHS is clearly failing and the Minister needs to look at ways to deliver the programme he said.
In reply to Deputy McGrath’s question, Sinéad Glennon, the head of Mental Health Services with Cork Kerry Community Healthcare, said that “strenuous efforts” had been made to fill the vacant post in Cork.
She said the difficulty in filling the position had been exacerbated by a shortage of consultants across Europe but that interviews to fill the post had been scheduled for this month. effectively,”
Ms Glennon wrote that the CAMHS Enhancement Project had been initiated in September 2017 to address the “significant challenges” in the provision of services, with an initial focus on reducing wait times in excess of 12 months.
Other initiatives introduced under the project included streamlining the assessment and treatment process for young people with ADHD, including the use of a new IT system, enhanced waiting-list management systems, an enhanced focus on discharges, and additional capacity to address the Assessment of Need waiting list.
She said efforts to date had resulted in “considerable improvements”, with direct contact having increased by 63 per cent; and a 50-per-cent reduction in waiting times. She pointed out that the current figure of 113 waiting for more than 12 months in Cork was down almost half on February of last year.
“We will continue all efforts to provide the best possible access to our services,” she pledged.