Teams looking after mental health of older people 'staffed at only a fraction of the required level'

Older people mental health teams deal with an assortment of mental health issues, from severe depression to psychosis, anxiety and enduring mental illness to cognitive decline, and dementia. File picture: iStock

Mental health teams caring for older people around the country are severely understaffed, with just 35% of the required psychologists and 44% of occupational therapists in place.

The data shows that the HSE’s provision of staff for older citizens suffering from mental health issues is falling a distance short of the health service’s own model of care for older people.

The 2019 model of care for specialist mental health services for older people states that for every 10,000 people aged over 65, at least 10 mental health professionals — including a consultant psychiatrist, a psychologist, an occupational therapist, and three mental health nurses — should be in place.

However, the reality of the number of staff actually in place is far removed from that target. The data was released to Social Democrats TD for Cork East, Liam Quaide, via a series of parliamentary questions,

Of five staffing categories disclosed covering more than 780,000 people aged 65 and above, just 377 of 627 whole-time equivalent roles are currently filled, a minimum shortfall of 250 — or just under 40%.

The shortfalls in recruitment vary depending upon the relevant geographic region, with the southwest of the country particularly badly affected — across the five staffing disciplines, Cork North and East and Kerry show just 34% of disciplines filled, while Cork South and West stands at just 31%.

Older people mental health teams deal with an assortment of mental health issues, from severe depression to psychosis, anxiety and enduring mental illness to cognitive decline, and dementia.

Mr Quaide, a former practising clinical psychologist with the HSE, described the staffing shortfalls as “a profound failure of Government that...key parts of older people’s mental health teams remain staffed at only a fraction of the required level”.

“Older people experiencing bereavement, isolation, cognitive change, physical illness and loss of independence risk being left with an increasingly narrow and medicalised service,” he said.

“These needs cannot simply be medicated away. Without properly staffed multidisciplinary teams, needs go unmet, families carry more of the burden and older people are pushed closer to crisis, hospitalisation and the loss of their independence. 

“The Government must honour the staffing commitments set out in the HSE’s 2019 Model of Care for this age group and publish a fully funded, time-bound plan to recruit the multidisciplinary staff older people were promised."

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A HSE spokesperson said “recruitment of new service development posts in mental health services remains a priority across all age groups”. “However, recruitment is acknowledged as a challenge in the health service both nationally and internationally,” they said.

They added that the HSE’s national clinical advisor and group lead for mental health is “currently undertaking a gap analysis to identify the additional staffing and service requirements necessary to support further implementation” of the 2019 model of care across the HSE’s six health regions.

“Deficits in supply are being addressed by increased numbers of undergraduate opportunities and alternative access routes,” the spokesperson said.