Cork TD worried about staff shortage at in-patient unit

A CORK TD has raised concerns about staffing levels at Éist Linn, a child and adolescent mental health in-patient unit in Cork.

Éist Linn consists of an inpatient unit and a dedicated adjoined school. The referral pathway is through the Community Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) team and the catchment area includes Cork, Kerry, Waterford, South Tipperary, Carlow, Kilkenny, and Wexford.

Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould said he has “serious concerns” about the ability of Éist Linn to operate under current staff levels.

It comes as the HSE said CAMHS staffing and recruitment is impacted by the shortage of trained mental health staff nationally — a trend which it said “is not unique to Ireland”.

The HSE was responding to a parliamentary question (PQ) submitted by Deputy Gould in relation to service staffing levels.

The figures released to Deputy Gould by the HSE, show that the allocation of 26 staff nurses on the unit is not currently met, with just 15 working on the unit at present.

“With regard to covering these vacancies, all options remain under consideration at this time to include potential redeployment from other services to Éist Linn, to increase the usage of overtime and agency where available etc.

“Service management have also engaged with their colleagues across the CHOs to exhaust all avenues to secure additional staffing for Éist Linn.

“It is important to note there is no indication to reduce bed numbers as the bed occupancy within the unit has not been impacted by these vacancies at this time, I trust the above clarifies the queries raised,” the acting general manager of Mental Health Services at Cork Kerry Community Healthcare Hugh Scully said.

Deputy Gould said: “Where there should be 26 nurses, there are only 15. I have serious concerns about the ability for Éist Linn to operate with this level of staffing and for this to be a safe environment for patients and staff.

“This has been ongoing for months and the HSE has failed to address it. In their response, they suggest that they are considering redeploying nurses from other areas of the service to Éist Linn. It’s robbing Peter to pay Paul.

“These are very vulnerable children. It is the only unit of its kind in the South West. What I am hearing is that the unit is not able to operate at full capacity because of this lack of staff. This is a staffing crisis in a vital facility. The impact of this on vulnerable children and staff are huge.”