False promises by Government over reopening of CAMHS beds, says Ward

The Government has announced that a date has not yet been set for the reopening of 11 CAMHS beds at the Linn Dara Inpatient Unit in Cherry Orchard.

The beds were removed from the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service in south Dublin back in May due to a lack of staff.

The Government stated that it would reopen the beds once adequate staffing was found.

However, in response to a parliamentary question tabled by Sinn Fein’s spokesperson on Mental Health Mark Ward TD, the Department of Health said it was not a position to commit to a reopening date.

Deputy Ward said he was “really disappointed” in the response as CAMHS services were “already oversubscribed.”

“The response that I received from a parliamentary question in relation to a reopening date for these inpatient beds stated that it was not possible to give this date and cited recruitment issues as the cause for the delay,” he said.

“I had assurances last year from the then Taoiseach and the Minister for Mental Health that Linn Dara would be operating at full capacity again in September, but here we are in a new year with the same false promises by government.

“This is simply not good enough during a children’s mental health emergency.

“Over 11,000 children are waiting on primary care psychology, with almost 4,000 children waiting over a year for an appointment.

“CAMHS currently have 4000 children on waiting lists for appointments.”

In a statement to Deputy Ward, Kevin Brady, Head of Service Mental Health in Dublin South said the HSE “made the difficult decision to temporarily reduce the inpatient capacity at Linn Dara.

“Healthcare settings continue to face a challenging recruitment environment.

“The HSE is actively engaged in comprehensive national and international recruitment campaigns for Psychiatric Nursing staff as well as recruitment from graduate programmes.

“As recruitment is ongoing, it is not possible to give a specific reopening date at this time.”

Deputy Ward says that only 70 percent of CAMHS beds were operational as of August last year and children with mental ill-health are presenting to already strained emergency departments as a result.

“I received a response to a parliamentary question that stated that 741 children with mental health issue attended emergency departments from January to November, last year.

“This is only going to get worse, and capacity must be restored and increased to turn this around.

“We cannot have more false promises from government,” he says.

“Children are suffering and this cannot be allowed to continue.”