Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 28 September 2017
215. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health the number of persons in each community healthcare organisation, CHO, waiting for a psychology appointment in primary care; and the numbers waiting zero to 12 weeks, 12 to 26 weeks, 26 to 52 weeks and more than 52 weeks, respectively. [41188/17]
View answerThe number of patients awaiting a psychology appointment across all Community Healthcare Organisations at the end of July, including those waiting more than a year are as follows:
|
Total number |
Of which are waiting more than a year |
|
|
0-4 years |
981 |
151 |
|
5-17 years |
5830 |
2035 |
|
18-64 years |
1491 |
380 |
|
65+ years |
113 |
18 |
The HSE has a Service Improvement Initiative underway for Psychology Services; which includes the recruitment of an additional 22 psychologist posts and 114 Assistant psychology posts. These posts were advertised recently. A cross divisional Working Group, including the Mental Health Division, is working to ensure standardised delivery of service, setting out and communicating the arrangements for care pathways and reporting of metrics. Each CHO has been requested to submit a short-term action plan to address waiting lists in priority areas as part of the Service Improvement Initiative.
Other developments in this area include the Counselling in Primary Care Service (CIPC) for adults over 18 years who are medical card holders; a greater awareness of fostering mental health promotion in society through campaigns like the 'Let's Talk' campaign and 'The Little Things'; implementing the Suicide Prevention Strategy 'Connecting for Life'; the ongoing reduction of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) waiting lists for those waiting over 12 Months; the development of counselling services across both primary and secondary care, including early intervention at primary care level; and the opening of new Jigsaw youth mental health services, bringing the total number of services to 13.
