Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue which he has raised before. I stress again that I remain committed to developing all aspects of the mental health service, including CAMHS, which is a particular priority not just for me but also the HSE.

Additional funding in the budget for this year has resulted in an overall provision of €853 million for HSE mental health services. It takes into account significant additional resources for mental health services generally since 2012. However, funding is not the core issue in CAMHS, to which the Deputy has referred in his question. CAMHS services face particular challenges in the recruitment and retention of staff. The turnover rate for CAMHS teams is particularly high. That is an issue we are trying to address. The HSE is addressing it on an ongoing basis. We have recruited 1,150 staff in the past four years, of whom 270 have been for CAMHS teams. The HSE has also given priority to reducing the CAMHS waiting list, especially for those waiting over 12 months. This is dependent on the availability of key clinicians within teams, particularly CAMHS consultant psychiatrists. I know that the issue the Deputy is raising is the fact that there is no child consultant psychologist on-call within emergency departments 24/7. That is an issue of which we are very aware. Additional resources have assisted in supporting 67 CAMHS teams, with three paediatric liaison teams. There are also 66 CAMHS inpatient beds in operation nationally, with additional beds to come on stream as staffing levels permit. The new standard operating procedure introduced in 2015 has provided greater clarity and consistency on how the service is provided.

As the Deputy knows, during normal working hours, nine-to-five cover is provided Monday to Friday within mental health services by a number of interlinked components, including community mental health teams and emergency departments. During the on-call period, between 5 p.m. and 9 a.m., Monday to Friday, and throughout the weekend period there is a consultant psychiatrist, together with a psychiatric registrar or senior house officer, on duty in acute hospitals. Since 2014, this has been supplemented by the development of the self-harm clinical programme under which specialist nurses are available. A preliminary review of weekend access by the HSE mental health division shows that weekend mental health services are provided in only eight of the 17 mental health areas. In a further eight areas there is partial cover, in which in certain geographical areas within the service a weekend service is provided. The HSE has prioritised the need to ensure access to a weekend service for current service users is provided in all areas. A service improvement project was commenced last November to carry out more detailed mapping of current provision at weekends and the uptake in the extended hours services, taking account of international best practice and the service user perspective. The position in Wexford will be addressed as part of the overall service improvement initiative.

I will answer the other questions asked when I speak again.

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