Castlerea mental health hub funding
Deputy Kerrane says the new Castlerea e-mental health hub lacks the staffing and funding needed to deliver promised services. Minister Ryan says he does not know the specific case but will pass it to the Minister and notes the need to balance immediate cyber crisis management with future e-health services.
Last June, the Tánaiste opened the first e-mental health hub in Castlerea, County Roscommon in my constituency. It is a €2.6 million development to provide mental health services to children and young people through CAMHS Connect and, crucially, a day hospital for psychiatry of later life patients. The service was hailed at the time as having the potential to improve radically mental health services for patients. These were the Tánaiste's words. Perhaps if the HSE funded and staffed the service this would be the case. Last year, funding was provided for four staff members and the remaining vacancies were to be funded this year. However, this year no funding has been awarded for the four staff or the remaining vacancies. No funding has been provided for the psychiatry of later life service. This is particularly disgraceful given that the Rosalie unit, a care home for older people with dementia, was closed and replaced with a service that is not being funded. Far too often, the people of Roscommon are left behind when it comes to healthcare.
Comment on this
I want the funding released and the full services delivered.
Comment on this
I do not have an understanding of the specifics of the case. If the Deputy provides me with the details I will happily forward them to the Minister. To broaden it out, in one sense, to the cyberattack crisis we are facing, we will have to get the balancing act right because we need a range of new e-health solutions to deliver Sláintecare and to deliver new services and improve existing services. We cannot shy away from the use of technology in the provision of a range of health services, including mental health services.
In managing a response to the immediate crisis, we will have to build back better, to use words similar to those used during the Covid crisis, so that we have secure networks. A particular characteristic of health networks is that they are widespread with so many entry points. We must still provide those services. We must now make them very secure at the same time.