Pat Buckley
Question:44. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Health the waiting times for CAMHS in CHO 4 in counties Cork and Kerry. [50601/18]
View answerWednesday, 5 December 2018
Questions (44)
Written answers
Developing all aspects of our Mental Health services, including Child and Adolescent services (CAMHS) remains a priority for Government. The recent Budget provided an additional €55 million to progress new developments in mental health, which brings overall HSE mental health funding to nearly €1 billion in 2019.
There are now 70 CAMHS teams, and 3 Paediatric Liaison Teams. Around 18,500 CAMHS referrals are expected in 2018, with around 14,500 to be seen by this specialist service. Cases assessed by professionals as being urgent are seen as a matter of priority.
There are 76 CAMHS In–patient beds in 4 Acute Units nationally, with plans for additional provision in the new children’s hospital, and in the new National Forensic Mental Health facility now being built at Portrane.
The Cork/Kerry Community Healthcare area (CHO 4) has just over 168,000 young people under the age of 18, which is in line with the national average of 25% of the overall population. CAMHS referrals nationally have increased by over 20% since 2012, reflected also in the Cork/Kerry region.
The total number of children on CAMHS Waiting List nationally was 2,453 at the end of September last. The HSE has prioritised reducing CAMHS waiting lists, particularly those over 12 months, which was 313 in September. Within this broader context, there were 656 on the CHO4 CAMHS waiting list in September, with 174 waiting longer than 12 months. The latter decreased to 162 in October, representing a 30% reduction in those waiting to be seen over one year since January 2018.
All aspects of CAMHS nationally are being improved by the HSE under its annual Service Plans, including the Cork/Kerry region. This includes better out-of-hours and 7/7 day cover, progression of Day Hospital care, developing specialist teams such as Eating Disorders, and improved Prevention and Early Intervention services.
The development of a new mental health telephone line, a signposting tool and other digital on-line supports for those accessing information about mental health is being developed by the HSE. A key objective for me is that the potential of using such new technology, to augment existing CAMHS services with new delivery approaches, will be introduced as quickly as possible. A particular focus will be geographic areas of greatest service pressure, such as Cork/Kerry.
I have had various meetings in recent times with the HSE about CAMHS Waiting Lists in CHO4, with a view to filling vacancies within CAMHS teams, improving access for young people and reducing waiting lists. I will continue to closely monitor the position in Cork/Kerry to realise further improvements over 2019.