Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 April 2018
12. Deputy Tom Neville asked the Minister for Health the details of the CHO's recruitment initiatives; and the steps being taken to improve recruitment, for example, acute units, community mental health adult teams and child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS. [16230/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe level of vacancies and difficulty in recruiting and retaining skilled staff, particularly nursing and medical staff, poses a significant challenge for the provision of Mental Health Services. The Mental Health Division continues to work with Community Health Organisations (CHOs) to maximise and ensure the most effective use of resources. There is work on-going with the HSE HR partners and the National Recruitment Service to attract and retain staff within mental health services.
The CHOs are continuing to recruit across all staff categories in accordance with the Pay and Numbers strategy and are actively pursuing the conversion of agency staff to improve cost effectiveness and workforce continuity.
Consultant Psychiatrists within the CAMHS speciality have proven problematic to recruit and retain, particularly in some CHO areas, and while recruitment efforts have been on-going it must be acknowledged there is a serious shortage of suitably qualified CAMHS Consultants at both national and European level.
Psychiatric Nurse numbers have been affected by the age profile of the grade, with a large number of retirements in recent years. To combat this, agreement was reached at the Workplace Relations Commission in August 2016 which provided for 130 extra student places per annum. Around 32 extra places have been provided for post-graduate students who wish to transfer from general or intellectual nursing disability to mental health. In addition it was agreed that retired staff nurses who returned to service would be able to do so up to the Long Service Increment point of the Scale.
In addition, the HSE continue to target relevant events, for example an international CAMHS Medical Conference in Geneva in late 2017 in which they hosted a stand in the convention centre. Further to this, the CHOs are also exploring the use of technology and Skype to communicate directly with prospective international candidates for screening and interview and to make the system more responsive and to reduce costs.
Notwithstanding the above, the HSE is working to provide the best possible service within available staffing resources. A key focus is on managing clinical risks and prioritising referrals accordingly. Mental health services, including CAMHS, will continue to deliver on a number of service improvements to increase productivity and efficiencies. A key approach to developing services for young people, and thereby reducing pressures on CAMHS, is the decision by Government to increase access to counselling services in Primary Care, with the appointment of 114 Assistant Psychologists and 20 Psychologists. These key staff are now being put in place nationally by the HSE.
In addition, I have requested the HSE to examine as a matter of priority the feasibility of providing counselling support services remotely via a Tele-Psych type service at primary care centres.
