Donnelly 'naive' to think new consultant contract will address crisis in children's mental health services

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said the new consultant employment contract would be in place 'within weeks' and would make Camhs a more attractive workplace. Picture: Gareth Chaney /Collins

Health minister Stephen Donnelly has been accused of naivety for thinking a new employment contract for hospital consultants will address the crisis in children's mental health services.

The Irish Medical Organisation has also warned the services are not adequately prepared for the rising demand among children and adolescents for mental health services.

Speaking to RTÉ early on Tuesday, Mr Donnelly said the new contract would be in place “within weeks” and would make Camhs a more attractive workplace.

However, consultant psychiatrist and IMO consultant committee member Professor Matthew Sadlier said: “The suggestion by the minister for health that the new consultant contract will help address issues in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services [Camhs] was naive.” 

He said issues at the heart of the crisis which make the service sometimes an unsafe workplace were not addressed by the contract.

“The inability of the health system generally, and in this case Camhs, to recruit sufficient number of consultants so that teams are supported and equipped to do their job, is a direct contributor to this failure in care provision,” he said.

We have known for a long time of the unmet need of patients, and we also know that will grow significantly as a direct result of the pandemic, yet we are still woefully unprepared.” 

Specifically in relation to Camhs, the IMO would like to see medical workforce planning for all related services, and funding to recruit not only additional consultants but all members of the support teams involved. 

There should be 11 different specialities on each Camhs team, including a social worker as well as dedicated mental health staff. 

It listed a number of specific clinical issues needing a dedicated focus, including the lack of electronic patient records and e-prescribing.

It also wants an end to the lack of access to medical diagnostic services for mental health teams and the integration of clinical pharmacy into multi-disciplinary teams.

It called for an assessment of the impact caused by moving care into the community with “inadequate staffing levels and governance structures” in place.

Dr Sadlier said: “The IMO has been highlighting the issues in our mental health services for many years and appeal to Government to seriously tackle the problems with medical recruitment in both Camhs and the wider health services.”

This follows the publication by the Mental Health Commission on Monday of an interim report into Camhs services around the country.

Having reviewed just five of the nine services including, those covering Munster counties, it warned of finding"some inefficient and unsafe Camhs services". 

The review found a lack of emergency Camhs services and out-of-hours services, as well as staff shortages.