Dr. Eric Kelleher:

As a result of the waiting list for general outpatient psychiatry, it may be weeks to months, depending on where you are. The national clinical care programme for psycho-oncology is being brought in to address the issue. We recognise that patients with cancer have great mental health needs so they are referred to a psycho-oncologist, who will be the clinical lead for that patient group and will have a team of social workers, psychologists and nurse specialists who will support patients on their cancer journey.

Challenges can arise in the translation of the care that person might get in hospital, for example, if the person has cancer that is ongoing, in how that translates into the community setting. If we go back to the case I described earlier and the challenges there, my colleague Professor Doherty made this point as well. We have a national clinical care programme for psycho-oncology. We could have that type of programme for every type of chronic illness, including neurological disorders. The issue is translating the care into the community and the supports that people need. This may be ongoing psychological work or it may be very practical measures, such as someone coming in to do changing and minding. That can help somebody with their self-care.