'Crisis' of youth psychologist shortage met with 'deafening silence'

Dr Vincent McDarby said: "Government and HSE reports consistently acknowledge they have significant shortfalls of psychologists, but what we don’t have is engagement or planning with the professional body responsible for the training of psychologists about how to fix this issue."

A deficit of 98 psychologists in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs) compared to the recommended number 15 years ago has been described as a "crisis" by the sector's professional body.

The Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI) was responding to figures showing 92 psychologists in the service, compared to the 190 recommended in 2006 in the Vision for Change model of mental health service provision.

Camhs has come under increased scrutiny in recent months, particularly due to the highly critical Maskey Report into the situation in South Kerry Camhs.

Up-to-date staffing figures from the Health Service Executive shows 92.3 whole-time equivalent clinical psychologists employed in Camhs, with the highest level in CHO4, Cork and Kerry.

Vision for Change outlined targets for a variety of roles in mental health services and the data shows that only CHO1 — Donegal, Sligo/Leitrim and West Cavan — is above 70% of that target level across all the various disciplines.

In HSE CHO5, covering South Tipperary, Carlow/Kilkenny, Waterford and Wexford, the level of staffing across the various roles is just 45.8% of the Vision for Change target level.

President of the Psychological Society, Dr Vincent McDarby, said: “A Vision for Change outlined in 2006 how mental health services should be staffed, and we now know that we only have 92 psychologists out of the 190 recommended for Camhs. 

"A deficit of 98 psychologists in Camhs is a crisis that requires urgent and immediate action from the Government and the HSE.

The review of Camhs is welcomed, but this data is available now, today — why do we need to await another review to tell us what we already know? 

"We know that there isn’t enough funding or places to professionally train psychologists, PSI have been telling Government this for years.

“Government and HSE reports consistently acknowledge they have significant shortfalls of psychologists, but what we don’t have is engagement or planning with the professional body responsible for the training of psychologists about how to fix this issue. 

"PSI and our HSCP [Health and Social Care Professions] colleagues have consistently highlighted to Government how the biggest issue with recruitment is the HSE’s national panel system of recruitment, but in response we’ve had deafening silence.

“The children and families who attend Camhs now and into the future requiring psychological support deserve to know that there is planning and action to address the shortfall of psychologists in Camhs. 

PSI have the answers and Government have the funding — what’s outstanding is the political will to make it happen."

A HSE spokesperson stressed that Camhs is a specialist clinical service for people under 18 with moderate to severe mental health difficulties and added: “It is not for everyone; only a small percentage (approximately 2%) of the population would require access to this service."

The Irish Examiner reported earlier this month that figures received under Freedom of Information showed a third of referrals to Camhs in the first 11 months of last year were refused.

The Community Health Organisation (CHO) area with the lowest rate of refusal was CHO3, incorporating Clare, Limerick, and North Tipperary, where 75.6% of referrals were accepted, while the area with the highest rate of referrals not accepted was CHO 9 — Dublin North, North Central and North West — where just 55.8% of referrals were progressed.