HSE to prioritise mental health services

THE HSE has decided to prioritise the child and adolescent mental health services and is in the process of recruiting 12 consultant child and adolescent psychiatrists. In addition, the HSE announced it was engaged in a recruitment process for 140 posts in the therapeutic areas, including occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and physiotherapists. “The addition of all these new posts will enhance disability and child and adolescent mental health services right across the country,” said a spokesperson. In the diagnosis of autism, a multidisciplinary team, usually made up of a consultant child psychiatrist, psychologist, physiotherapist, community paediatrician, occupational therapist and social care leader will assess each child. Waiting times for such assessments can vary depending on the urgency for such a diagnosis, the HSE stated. However, these children will often have had the benefit of an assessment through the early intervention teams. This week, Fine Gael accused the Government of having failed to achieve almost half of its own targets for improving the health service. Deputy leader Richard Bruton said the Department of Health had not delivered 22 of the 49 output targets it promised at the beginning of last year despite getting an extra EUR1.8 million in funding.