Leader appointed for office charged with reforming child and youth mental health

Minister of State for mental health Mary Butler said of 49 recommendations made by the Mental Health Commission in its reports on Camhs, "many" are being implemented. 

The HSE has appointed a head for the new office leading reform of child and youth mental health as part of its response to criticism in a series of reports in recent years.

The office will be responsible for a service improvement programme which is expected to include developing specialist services and clinical programmes as well as improving governance.

Donan Kelly previously worked as chief operations officer with the Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust and as service director for the Oxfordshire and BSW Mental Health Directorate in Britain. 

He previously worked in Ireland with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs).

He said his immediate focus will be on bringing together these improvement plans, with implementation of recommendations in the Sharing the Vision policy and clinical programmes.

“We will work in partnership with key areas such as primary care, disabilities, education, Tusla, our voluntary, community and social partners, and of course young people and families, to develop services,” he said.

It follows the appointment of Dr Amanda Burke as clinical lead for youth mental health.

“As a Camhs consultant psychiatrist working in the west of Ireland, ongoing service improvement has been a key area of focus for me,” she said.

Around the country, five Camhs hubs are now in place offering intervention and support on an intensive short-term basis.

A HSE spokeswoman said: “We know improvements still need to be made and we are determined to make substantial changes and improvements in the mental health services provided in Ireland to children and adolescents.” 

A 10-bed forensic Camhs unit is complete within the National Forensic Mental Health Service in Portrane in north Dublin but not expected to be operational until “Q3 2024 depending on ability to recruit staff”, she said.

The new national Children’s Hospital will also host a 20-bed Camhs unit, including eight beds for patients with eating disorders, when it opens.

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In the community the HSE has invested €9.1m with Jigsaw services around the country. 

A waiting list project across six HSE regions saw 631 children and young people removed from the list to the end of August 2023.

Minister of State for mental health Mary Butler was questioned on progress made in improving access to services in the Dáil recently.

She said up to September 21 there were 3,900 children on waiting lists overall.

She added: “There were 33% more referrals to Camhs during the Covid-19 period, the teams saw 21% more children and there were 225,000 appointments last year.” 

She said of 49 recommendations made by the Mental Health Commission in its reports on Camhs, "many" are being implemented.

She said as well as the challenges, the commission recognised “the hard work and dedication of the many staff working in the frontline service".