additional reporting by Julie Smyth
The Covid pandemic led to a spike in young people accessing mental health services which in turn led to a rise in waiting lists, the Minister for Mental Health has said.
As the Irish Examiner reports, Mary Butler said there was a worrying link between eating disorders in young people and social media.
The Waterford TD was speaking in Dublin at the launch of the four-year organisational strategy of youth service Jigsaw. She said, of particular concern was the level of admissions for eating disorders.
"We have seen a spike in the number of young people who are seeking supports, especially in relation to eating disorders. Last year, for example, 487 young people had to be admitted to an inpatient unit in relation to eating disorders.
Ms Butler said that while there were "really good services" around the country, there was “a bit of a postcode lottery” in terms of access to services. She said staffing was a key issue here, with it taking about 50 weeks to get a psychologist into place in most cases.
She said this could be particularly difficult when a person was already employed in the HSE as the subsequent role had to be filled.
Ms Butler said she was not happy that 78 per cent of children had been seen in the system within 12 months but said she expected this figure to come down.
“I want to build on that. And by securing the extra money in the budget to put in place more Camhs workers, and two Camhs telehealth services, I believe we will have different figures by the end of this year."
Investment
Earlier this week Minister Butler told WLR that four new teams dealing with Eating Disorders would be put in place next year, with one of those teams located in Waterford.
A total of €1.149 billion has been allocated to mental health in Budget 2022. This is an additional €47 million for next year and comprises €24 million for new developments, €13 million for existing levels of service and €10 million in once off funding for COVID-19.
Minister Butler commented that “the additional investment provided for in Budget 2022 will ensure the continued development of mental health services, including out of hours supports, child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and the national clinical mental health programmes. An additional €1.15 million will be allocated to the Clinical Programme on Eating Disorders to continue the roll out of specialist eating disorder teams in CHOs 1, 3, 5 and 6.”
New mental health services for older people will be developed, in line with the model of care for specialist mental health services for older people and will be piloted next year.
For more information visit jigsaw.ie
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