‘Life may hang in the balance’
Severely long waiting times for mental health services on Leeside were raised in the Dáil this week by a local TD.
Sinn Féin TD for Cork South-Central Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire raised the issue in the Dáil claiming waiting times for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) were “unacceptable”.
Currently CAMHS has 646 children on waiting the waiting list in Cork, 192 of whom have been on the list for over a year.
Speaking in the Dáil, Deputy Ó Laoghaire said: “These are vulnerable children and adolescents with real mental health issues. In many instances, life may hang in the balance.”
Deputy Ó Laoghaire also highlighted the waiting times among community mental health services in Cork. Many people seeking psychological health services are facing waiting times of between six and 17 months in their local communities.
“It is still the case that the Cork city area is way above the national average for suicide among men and self-harm among women. That has been the case for a decade. Clearly investing in psychology and psychiatry in community and CAMHS settings is crucial to assisting people in crisis situations,” continued Deputy Ó Laoghaire. “Six months is a tortuous length of time to be waiting for any kind of treatment. Anyone who is referred to a psychiatrist is likely to be facing a crisis situation.”
In response, Minister of State at the Department of Health with Special Responsibility for Mental Health and Older People, Jim Daly TD said: “Mental health continues to be a priority area for the Government. We recognise that mental health service users are among the most vulnerable in society. For this reason, €39 million has been added to the mental health services budget for 2020, increasing the annual allocation to €1.026 billion. This represents an increase of over €315 million, or 45 per cent, since 2012.”
The HSE has introduced several digital mental health initiatives, including tele-counselling and tele-psychiatry projects, which can offer remote counselling, consultations, and access to services.
Deputy Ó Laoghaire said: “The replies to parliamentary questions stated there is no intention or requirement to fill additional positions in areas where the waiting lists are unacceptable. How can it be the case that the HSE believes this is acceptable? It cannot be acceptable for people to wait six months for psychiatry services, as they are forced to in Carrigaline.”
Minister Daly responded: “There are 34 young people in the Carrigaline-Douglas area on the waiting list for psychiatry. That is what the HSE means when it could not justify taking on an additional psychiatrist in a full-time position. Instead, it is about the better utilisation of resources.”
Minster Daly concluded: “In my time in office, I have tried to ensure that everything we do is sustainable and replicated year after year. It is not about just throwing an extra €10 million at it this year to bring a waiting list down when it goes back up next year. It is about structural reforms. Online counselling and psychiatry are sustainable solutions which will, while not building utopia, go a long way to fixing the system.”