The HSE has developed a new National Office for Child and Youth Mental Health.
This office will have responsibility for the Child and Youth Mental Health Service Improvement Programme. It will also provide leadership, operational oversight and enhanced governance.
As part of this initiative, new roles have been created. A National Clinical Lead for Child and Youth Mental Health has been appointed. An Assistant National Director will be in place in September.
In the past decade, the HSE has made CAMHS and youth mental health service improvement a priority and has invested significantly in the service. Directed by the national mental health policy and supported by development funding, the improvement programme seeks to consolidate ongoing initiatives and reviews.
These include work to:
- deliver the Sharing the Vision Implementation Plan 2022-2024, which provides a 3-year roadmap for the continued development of mental health services, including CAMHS
- build capacity in CAMHS/Community Mental Health Teams as part of Sharing the Vision - an additional 50 posts were approved last year
- continue investing in colleges and training bodies to help ease staffing shortages within mental health
- implement outstanding actions contained in the implementation framework for the Maskey Report (2022)
- implement recommendations arising from the national audits of adherence to the CAMHS Operational Guideline (COG) and prescribing practice
- implement findings and relevant recommendations put forward by the Mental Health Commission, as they align to existing work programmes
- provide operational response, in parallel with policy implementation, to the national mental health office around issues such as:
- performance monitoring
- waiting list management
- regulation and compliance
- serious incidents
- mitigation of operational risks
The Child and Youth Mental Health Service Improvement Programme will also be informed by:
- findings in the Mental Health Commission’s review of CAMHS (2023)
- the Maskey Report (2022)
- implementing recommendations about CAMHS and youth mental health services in Sharing the Vision, Ireland’s national mental health policy
- considering future models of care and delivery structures
Sharing the Vision Implementation Plan 2022 to 2024 (PDF, 1.44MB, 136 pages)
