Cork and Kerry psychology waits
Holly Cairns highlighted very long waits for young people seeking primary care psychology in Cork and Kerry, including waits of up to five years and a recruitment ban. The Taoiseach acknowledged a serious regional staffing problem, noted high vacancy and referral rates, and said he would speak with the Minister and reply further.
In early May, I received some shocking figures that revealed that 4,785 young people were waiting to be seen by primary care psychology services. That is in counties Cork and Kerry alone. Since then, I have been trying to get to the bottom of how long these people have been waiting. In response to my follow-up parliamentary questions, the HSE informed me that, disgracefully, of those young people in Cork and Kerry, 1,045 have been waiting between two and three years, 319 have been waiting between three and four years and 105 people in the Cork area alone have been waiting between four and five years. It is clear from these figures that the waiting lists in our area are completely out of control. We are still waiting for figures to find out if this is typical nationally or if it is just particular to Cork and Kerry. However, the fact that 105 young people in Cork services are waiting between four and five years for intervention is deeply shocking. There has rightly been a lot of focus on the child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, but this has largely gone under the radar and a lot of these people end up needing CAMHS. A lot of people are timing out of the service and having to go to adult services. Will the Taoiseach outline the plan to address this? Does he know if the picture is similar nationally?
Comment on this
I am reading a note on this. I thank Deputy Cairns for raising this serious issue. I am told, specifically with regard to CHO 4, which is Cork and Kerry, that the HSE has advised that data showed an increased referral rate across the region of 63%, specifically for primary care psychology waiting lists. There seems to be a particular challenge in this region that I do not believe is replicated nationally based on this note. Psychology vacancies in the region equate to approximately 25 whole-time equivalents. It is 25.95, which is a 61% vacancy rate. I understand Cork and Kerry are at present working on a service improvement plan and new and improved initiatives, but that is a high vacancy rate. I am told that is a regional challenge-----
Comment on this
There is also a recruitment ban.