Written Answers Nos. 800-815
800. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health for an update on the roll-out of Jigsaw online services; what funding has been provided for this; the annual cost of running this service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35313/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
801. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health for an update on CAMHS inpatient capacity; if there are plans to restore capacity; if there are plans to increase current capacity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35314/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
802. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health for an update on mental health services at primary care level; the waiting times for mental health services at primary care level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35315/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
803. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health for an update on vacancy levels for mental health staff at primary care level, by CHO; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35316/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
804. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health the number of mental health-related presentations to emergency departments in each of the years 2019 to 2022 and to date in 2023; the numbers that were accepted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35317/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly with the requested information.
805. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health the number of young people who presented to emergency departments with mental health-related issues in each of the years 2019 to 2022 and to date in 2023; the numbers that were accepted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35318/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly with the requested information.
806. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health the number of persons who presented to emergency departments with self-harm and/or intentional poisoning, by CHO area, in each of the years 2019 to 2022 and to date in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35319/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly with the requested information.
807. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on the roll-out of the eating disorder network and the implementation of the HSE national model of care plan for eating disorders; the target operational dates for the remaining adult and CAMHS teams for eating disorders; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35320/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
808. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health for an update on the regulation of psychology under CORU; when this will be expected to be completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35321/23]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, CORU is Ireland’s multi-profession health and social care regulator. CORU’s role is to protect the public by regulating the health and social care professions designated under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 (as amended), including setting the standards that health and social care professionals must meet to be eligible for registration and maintaining registers of persons who meet those standards.
Seventeen health and social care professions are designated for regulation by CORU. There are currently registers open for ten professions and CORU is continuing the substantial work required to open the registers for the remaining designated professions of Social Care Workers; Psychologists; Counsellors and Psychotherapists; Clinical Biochemists; and Orthoptists.
The Psychologists Registration Board (PSRB) was established in 2017. The work of the PSRB includes consideration of the titles to be protected, the minimum qualifications to be required of existing practitioners, the qualifications that will be required for future graduates, and drafting the Standards of Proficiency and Criteria for Education and Training Programmes.
Regulating a new profession is a complex and lengthy process, requiring careful consideration and preparatory work to ensure that it is effective in protecting the public. Psychology has been a uniquely challenging profession to regulate due to the diversity of its specialisms (for example clinical psychology, counselling psychology, occupational and work psychology, sports and performance psychology) and the fact that there is no common education pathway or standards for entry to the profession.
In 2020 a public consultation on the draft Standards of Proficiency and Criteria for Education and Training Programmes developed for the profession revealed significant issues and a lack of consensus on how to proceed with regulation. Key areas of disagreement among the profession are around the minimum level of qualification required for entry to the profession, the number of placement hours, and the appropriateness of practice placement settings.
Having reached an impasse, CORU wrote to me on behalf of the PSRB in September 2021 seeking guidance on how to proceed. Having considered the matter with due regard to the complexity of this profession, its diverse specialisms (including non-health and social care specialisms), the lack of consensus among the profession on how to proceed, and risks to the public of delays in opening a register, I wrote to CORU in August 2022 requesting that the PSRB consider a dual-stream and phased approach to regulating the profession. This approach will allow the PSRB to prioritise regulating the psychology specialisms which present the greatest risk to public safety, while simultaneously continuing to work towards the long-term objective of protecting the title of ‘psychologist’.
CORU wrote to wrote to me on 3 March 2023 with the PSRB’s recommendations on which specialisms should be prioritised for regulation, using an evidence and risk-based methodology. I have accepted the PSRB’s recommendations to prioritise regulation of clinical, counselling, and educational psychology. On 24 April 2023 I wrote to CORU requesting the PSRB to proceed to immediately regulate these three specialisms, while progressing work to protect the title of psychologist in parallel.
Owing to the significant body of preparatory work that the PSRB are required to undertake, it is not possible to say with any degree of accuracy when the profession of psychologist will be fully regulated. I would anticipate that the board will require a number of years to complete its work.
CORU, the PSRB, and my Department are fully committed to delivering regulation of this very important profession through protection of the title of ‘psychologist’.
809. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health for an update on the regulation of counselling and psychotherapy under CORU; when this will be expected to be completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35322/23]
View answerAs the Deputy may be aware, the Health and Social Care Professionals Council and Registration Boards, collectively known as CORU, are responsible for protecting the public by promoting high standards of professional conduct, education, training, and competence amongst the professions designated under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act (2005). The Act is being implemented on a phased basis as registration boards and their registers are being established.
Regulations under SI No. 170 of 2018 were made by my predecessor in 2018 to designate the professions of counsellor and psychotherapist under the 2005 Act and to establish one registration board for both professions. Members were appointed to the Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board in February 2019 and they held their inaugural meeting in May 2019.
The work of the Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board (CPRB) includes consideration of the titles to be protected and the minimum qualifications to be required of existing practitioners and the qualifications that will be required for future graduates. The work of the CPRB is significantly more challenging than it is for registration boards for some of the more established professions owing to the different and complex pathways into these professions, the variety of titles used, and the variety and number of courses and course providers.
To date, the following progress has been made by the CPRB:
• Identification, verification and comprehensive assessment of legacy/historical qualifications to determine if they are appropriate for transitioning existing practitioners onto the respective registers (when open);
• Scoping and research on the regulation of counsellors and psychotherapists internationally has been conducted;
• Drafting of separate and distinct standards of proficiency for counsellors and psychotherapists and criteria for education and training programmes has been finalised.
Owing to the significant body of preparatory work that the CPRB are required to undertake, it is not possible to say with any degree of accuracy when the professions of counsellor and psychotherapist will be fully regulated. I would anticipate that the registration board will require a number of years to complete its work.
I hope that this information is of assistance to you.
810. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health if there is a model of care for ADHD; for an update on its implementation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35323/23]
View answerThe phased implementation of the National Mental Health Clinical Programme for Adults with ADHD is a key priority and recommendation in Sharing the Vision, our national mental health policy. As of the last published implementation report at end Q1 2023:
• Adult ADHD Service site visits have commenced; visits to Limerick and Cork have taken place.
• Funding to continue the rollout of Understanding and Managing Adult ADHD Programme for 2023 has been allocated. Two Workshops have taken place to date.
• The Adult ADHD App has been downloaded approximately 8,000 times. This will continue to be monitored.
• The Adult ADHD NCP National Oversight and Implementation Group continues to meet bi-monthly.
In addition, in relation to ADHD and CAMHS, a National Clinical Lead for ADHD in Children and Adolescents has been appointed and is commencing work to develop an ADHD Model of Care for CAMHS.
The Q2 reporting phase for Sharing the Vision is currently in progress and therefore a more substantive update will be published soon.
To the extent that this question refers to services, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
811. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 5 of 1 June 2023, what recommendations have come out of the roundtable discussions on youth mental health; the plans to implement these recommendations; which stakeholders were involved in the process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35324/23]
View answerI recently completed a series of three high-level roundtable discussions bringing together the Department of Health, the HSE, and other relevant key stakeholders to drive improvement across Youth Mental Health, including CAMHS. The purpose of the meetings was:
• -To bring together key stakeholders;
• To provide the opportunity to review CAMHS improvement progress to date and discuss next steps;
• To provide the opportunity for multi-disciplinary engagement with the view of better understanding the challenges in CAMH services and identify areas of improvement;
• To allow for high-level engagement between management, medical, and Health and Social Care professionals;
• To ensure that the focus on CAMHS improvement is moving in-step across the different areas of the HSE and Department;
• To further highlight and embed CAMHS service development and improvement within the on-going work to implement relevant recommendations in Sharing the Vision; and
• To ensure that there is cross-sectoral collaboration to deliver on audit recommendations and Sharing the Vision objectives.
The Department of Health are currently reviewing and incorporating stakeholder feedback into a final document for circulation to the National Implementation Monitoring Committee (NIMC). It is envisaged that NIMC will review feedback and align work prioritisation through the appropriate Sharing the Vision specialist groups to support service improvements in CAMHS, including Transition from CAMHS, as well as Youth Mental Health care overall.
I will also bear in mind the outcomes of the recent very constructive roundtable discussions in the context of progressing, in conjunction with the HSE, proposals for new service developments for children and young people under the Estimates process 2024.
812. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health the number of young people referred to CAMHS, by CHO area, in 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023; the number of referrals accepted and refused; the reason for refusal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35325/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
813. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health the funding allocated to implementing Sharing the Vision in 2020, 2021, 2022 and to-date in 2023; the estimated funding cost to fully implement the measures in Sharing the Vision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35326/23]
View answerThe total budget for mental health services is over €1.2 billion. This significant investment will enable implementation of many of the short and medium-term measures in our national mental health policy, Sharing the Vision, enhancing the provision of mental health supports across a broad continuum from mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention, to acute and specialist mental health service delivery, and enabling us to continue to deliver our vital services to as many people as possible.
Sharing the Vision, has a ten-year implementation roadmap, overseen by the National Implementation and Monitoring Committee (NIMC). Sharing the Vision Implementation Plan 2022 – 2024 was collaboratively developed by the HSE and the Department of Health, overseen by NIMC. The NIMC is tasked with the implementation monitoring of the policy. The Plan sets out individual programme pathways of implementation for each of the 100 policy recommendations for three years.
There is no single set implementation budget for the work required to implement the full programme of recommendations or workstreams as responsibility for implementation is spread across different care areas, including primary care, mental health planning, mental health services, HSE social inclusion, among others.
Any additional funding required for developments under this strategy will be based on the NIMC’s work plan, which will identify priority developments relevant to each care area for each year. This funding will then be sought as part of the estimates process and in close conjunction with the development of the HSE National Service Plan each year.
In the absence of a single integrated financial solution within the HSE, it is not possible to currently say how funding has been allocated across care areas in the course of implementing actions in Sharing the Vision.
Overall each year much of the budget for mental health services enables the HSE to maintain and develop its wide range of mental health and suicide prevention services. These span all specialties and ages, from mental health promotion and early intervention to acute inpatient care and clinical programmes such as self-harm and eating disorders. This aligns with commitments in Sharing the Vision.
814. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health for a breakdown of the new funding allocated to Sharing the Vision in the National Service Plan 2023; where this funding will be directed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35327/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
815. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health for an update on the differences between money allocated for mental health in Budget 2023 and the National Service Plan 2023; the reason for any differences; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35328/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
