Results 7,021-7,040 of 12,275 for speaker:Mary Butler

Joint Committee On Health: Impacts of Covid-19 on Mental Health Services: Discussion (14 Sep 2021)

Mary Butler: Dr. Dodd will be able to give us an update on that. I will then respond on the issue of psychology.

Joint Committee On Health: Impacts of Covid-19 on Mental Health Services: Discussion (14 Sep 2021)

Mary Butler: I will speak briefly about primary care psychology. When I came into this post last year, I was very concerned to hear that more than 2,500 young people aged under 18 had been waiting for an appointment for longer than 12 months. Primary care psychology technically does not fall under my remit but under the remit of the Minister, Deputy Donnelly. At the same time, however, there are clear...

Joint Committee On Health: Impacts of Covid-19 on Mental Health Services: Discussion (14 Sep 2021)

Mary Butler: Absolutely. We are also challenged at the moment with regard to recruiting dieticians. I have spoken to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, to see whether we can get more places at third level. I know it will still take four or five years for them to filter through but at the same time, we have to plan ahead.

Joint Committee On Health: Impacts of Covid-19 on Mental Health Services: Discussion (14 Sep 2021)

Mary Butler: I will let Mr. Hempenstall in there.

Joint Committee On Health: Impacts of Covid-19 on Mental Health Services: Discussion (14 Sep 2021)

Mary Butler: We are definitely looking at this year. A huge amount of work has been done. We had issues and the legislation was passed just before Christmas last year. I thank everyone who supported it. We are pushing as hard as we can, however. It is so important for capacity issues, especially for the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, to get over to Portrane as quickly as possible. We will also...

Joint Committee On Health: Impacts of Covid-19 on Mental Health Services: Discussion (14 Sep 2021)

Mary Butler: I will let Mr. Kelly in there. He has done a huge amount of work on the mental health Bill and may have any information in that regard.

Joint Committee On Health: Impacts of Covid-19 on Mental Health Services: Discussion (14 Sep 2021)

Mary Butler: I do not think so but I am not 100% sure. I see that Dr. Dodd is nodding his head. We are currently looking at trauma-based counselling and I am meeting with the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, later to discuss it, especially for children who have been through traumatic experiences. Does Dr. Dodd wish to come in there? I saw him nodding his head.

Joint Committee On Health: Impacts of Covid-19 on Mental Health Services: Discussion (14 Sep 2021)

Mary Butler: The majority of people with mental health illnesses would be assigned a key worker. A plan would also be put in place to manage the best results for each person. I do not have a medical background. Decisions concerning the care of people with mental health illnesses would primarily be taken by their medical team and including their psychiatrist or psychologist. I ask Dr. Dodd to conclude...

Joint Committee On Health: Impacts of Covid-19 on Mental Health Services: Discussion (14 Sep 2021)

Mary Butler: To conclude on this point, the Sharing the Vision policy focuses on an individualised approach. It seeks to ensure that patients are involved in their own care plans, including individualised care plans. We did not see that approach in the previous document. The important aspect of Sharing the Vision is, therefore, putting patients front and centre and ensuring that they can be involved in...

Joint Committee On Health: Impacts of Covid-19 on Mental Health Services: Discussion (14 Sep 2021)

Mary Butler: I thank the Deputy.

Joint Committee On Health: Impacts of Covid-19 on Mental Health Services: Discussion (14 Sep 2021)

Mary Butler: I thank the Deputy for his question. I also thank him for the constructive approach he always takes when questioning me in the Dáil, as do all his colleagues, regarding issues concerning mental health services. I was also concerned about the waiting lists for CAMHS. As the Deputy said, some of these issues have existed for a while and have been inherited. In addressing this...

Joint Committee On Health: Impacts of Covid-19 on Mental Health Services: Discussion (14 Sep 2021)

Mary Butler: There is also greater flexibility in the skills mix in CAMHS teams under the Sharing the Vision policy than existed in the previous A Vision for Change strategy. A Vision for Change provided for a more prescriptive model. Increased flexibility in this regard will create opportunities for more focused care at local level. This new approach is not as prescriptive and again seeks to put...

Joint Committee On Health: Impacts of Covid-19 on Mental Health Services: Discussion (14 Sep 2021)

Mary Butler: We provide the budget and the HSE is then in charge of recruitment. As I said, work in this area is undertaken in close co-operation with Dr. Niazi, who, with his team, looks after recruitment for the clinical programmes. They have been working very hard to recruit staff in this area. Representatives from the HSE would probably provide more succinct answers on recruitment for the Deputy....

Joint Committee On Health: Impacts of Covid-19 on Mental Health Services: Discussion (14 Sep 2021)

Mary Butler: I thank the Deputy for his question. The team around me here will know that I have been talking about eating disorders for the past 14 months because, as Deputy Kenny, rightly said, it has manifested, especially last year and this year, in the context of the pandemic. I am open to correction but I think close to 487 young people were admitted last year with an eating disorder, especially...

Joint Committee On Health: Impacts of Covid-19 on Mental Health Services: Discussion (14 Sep 2021)

Mary Butler: The recruitment process is on target to have all of those specialists in post by the end of this year. We are very close. I thank Dr. Amir Niazi and his team for the phenomenal work they have done recruiting in a very difficult time, one which was compounded by Covid-19 and the cyberattack. I am very concerned about eating disorders and self-harm among young people. These are huge issues...

Joint Committee On Health: Impacts of Covid-19 on Mental Health Services: Discussion (14 Sep 2021)

Mary Butler: The Deputy mentioned the budget in the UK, which is interesting. Last week, I met a colleague in Northern Ireland who is a mental health champion. I was surprised to learn that there is no minister for mental health in Northern Ireland. A mental health champion has been appointed there. As part of the shared island initiative whereby the North and South collaborate, I met her last week...

Joint Committee On Health: Impacts of Covid-19 on Mental Health Services: Discussion (14 Sep 2021)

Mary Butler: I thank Senator Black for the work she does on mental health and chairing this committee. It is important. This is a sub-committee of the larger Oireachtas health committee, but there is so much in the health area and it is good that there is a specific focus within a committee on mental health. I thank the committee for the amount of work it has done. I assure the committee, the...

Joint Committee On Health: Impacts of Covid-19 on Mental Health Services: Discussion (14 Sep 2021)

Mary Butler: That is fine. One of the questions asked was about recommendation 2 and access to mental health services, including access to emergency services. Sharing the Vision specifically promotes access to out-of-hours mental health supports and alternative access routes to emergency care.

Joint Committee On Health: Impacts of Covid-19 on Mental Health Services: Discussion (14 Sep 2021)

Mary Butler: I do. Can you hear me, Chair?

Joint Committee On Health: Impacts of Covid-19 on Mental Health Services: Discussion (14 Sep 2021)

Mary Butler: Can you hear me now?