Kevin O'Keeffe
Question:56. Deputy Kevin O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Health the action being taken to address the large number of psychiatrist vacancies in County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50704/18]
View answerWednesday, 5 December 2018
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Written answers
As is widely acknowledged, there is currently an international shortage of Consultant Psychiatrists, particularly for the HSE Child and Adolescent Mental Health service (CAMHS). CHO4, which covers the Cork and Kerry areas, indicates that there are currently 7.25 Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) vacancies at Consultant level in mental health there.
Cork/Kerry Community Healthcare have established a CAMHS Medical Recruitment Taskforce to review efforts to recruit and retain medical staff, led by the Head of Service for Human Resources. Every possible option is being pursued in order to recruit Consultant Psychiatrists for that area. Acknowledging the critical impact medical vacancies have on service provision, a dedicated Medical Manpower Officer has also been appointed.
Local HSE management are working with eleven national and international agencies to source suitably qualified candidates. All options are being explored, including the provision of out-of-hours, or weekend clinics by Consultants from other HSE areas, along with the potential use of new e-mental solutions currently being developed by the Executive.
The recent Budget saw the HSE mental health allocation increase to nearly €1 billion, which is a clear indication of the importance placed on this key care programme by Government. This represents an increase of over €245 million in the HSE mental health budget since 2012. This has facilitated an increase in the number of WTE Consultant Psychiatrists in the Cork/Kerry mental health area from 46.6 to 51.39 in the last two years.
On the broader front, additional funding has also facilitated initiatives aimed at reducing demand on the specialist mental health services by developing Prevention and Early Intervention services at Primary Care, Disability or other service links. It has, for example, provided an extra 130 Psychiatric Nurse Undergraduates places each year, to fully come on-stream in 2020-21. In addition, 40 Post-Graduate places have been funded for Nurse training. Along with the recent appointment by the HSE of around 114 Assistant Psychologists and 20 Psychologists into Primary Care, and 10 Advanced Nurse Practitioners directly ear-marked for CAMHS, it is anticipated that these new posts will help improve mental health provision overall. Further emphasis to improve mental health services in Cork, and all areas nationally, will be a core objective of the HSE Service plan 2019, which is at present in the process of being finalised.
I have had several meeting over recent times with the HSE, at both national and local level, to improve mental health services in the CHO 4 region and the Deputy can rest assured that I will continue to closely monitor the situation to bring about realistic change on this complex issue as quickly as possible.