Michael Harty (Clare, Independent)
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I am aware of community psychiatric teams that are very poorly populated, not just in CAMHS, and that do not have a psychiatrist, perhaps have not had a psychologist for several years and have half a social worker and half an occupational therapist. This leads to a reduction in services, prolonged waiting lists and poor outcomes for patients, unfortunately. Senator Colm Burke spoke about the lack of consultants making decisions. Unfortunately, we now have non-consultant hospital doctors who are filling the gaps, and not just acting up to consultant level. It may be that the non-consultant hospital doctor is the only person who can man an outpatient department. This is not satisfactory. How can we overcome that?