HSE advertisment for new senior position in Cork sparks row with psychiatric nurses

Waiting lists in the HSE’s North Lee section have increased 28-fold since 2020, with 5,009 children now awaiting an initial psychological appointment in the Cork/Kerry region.

A major industrial relations row has sprung up in the HSE after the executive advertised for a new senior position in Cork which would see psychiatric nurses overseen by the psychology service.

The competition for Director of Psychology in the southwest, which ended on August 1, sought applicants for a post that would oversee the “psychological service beyond psychology to include counsellors, behaviour therapists and psychotherapist, nurses with psychotherapy/counselling training".