Terence Flanagan
Question:415. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on the introduction of community mental health teams; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7812/15]
View answerTuesday, 24 February 2015
Questions (415)
Written answers
The core unit of mental health service delivery is now the Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) of which there are 208 in place nationally as follows:
|
Number of Teams |
Description |
|
114 |
General Adult Teams |
|
25 |
Psychiatry of Old Age Teams |
|
63 |
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) Teams |
|
3 |
CAMHS Day Hospital Teams |
|
3 |
Liaison CAMHS Teams |
These Teams provide care to individuals living in their own home or in supported accommodation within their own community. The additional funding provided for mental health is being used, in part to ensure that at a minimum, at least one of each mental health professional discipline is represented on all of those teams. This has involved the recruitment of a significant number of multidisciplinary health professionals since 2012 to strengthen this service.
In line with the Programme for Government, my priority as Minister has been to modernise our mental health services, notwithstanding the severe resource constraints overall in recent years, and to prioritise new resources to underpin implementation of A Vision for Change. In that regard, the Government has provided an additional €125 million and some 1,150 posts for mental health comprising €35m with 416 posts in 2012, €35m with 477 posts in 2013, €20m for the recruitment of approximately 250 posts in 2014 and a further €35 million in 2015. The funding is being used to continue to strengthen Community Mental Health Teams for both adults and children, to enhance specialist community mental health services for older people with a mental illness, those with an intellectual disability and mental illness, forensic mental health services, and to enhance access to counselling and psychotherapy in primary care and investment in suicide prevention measures.
At end December 2014, of the 416 approved posts in 2012, approximately 95% (397) are now filled. Of the 477 approved posts in 2013, 78% (367) are filled. The remainder of vacant posts are at various stages of recruitment, with some difficulties in identifying outstanding candidates, primarily for geographic and qualification reasons. Therefore, approximately 86% of combined posts over 2012-13 have taken up duty. Recruitment for 225 approved allocated posts for 2014 has commenced with 4 having agreed start dates and a further 5 posts have been accepted. The remaining approved posts are to be recruited in early 2015.