Girl with profound autism left with no therapist in Cork due to Camhs staff turnover, council hears

A girl with profound autism in the Bandon Kinsale municipal district has been left with no therapist and has lost her social worker due to staff turnover, a Cork county councillor told last week’s meeting of the authority.

Social Democrats councillor Ann Bambury sought support for a motion urging the health minister to address severe shortages in staffing of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs). Ms Bambury told her council colleagues that more than one in five approved positions in Camhs in the HSE South West region were vacant — amounting to 75.23 whole time equivalents (WTEs).

“A young girl in my area with profound autism has been left without any therapy — speech, occupational, or physiotherapy — and has lost her social worker due to turnover. A recent cognitive assessment was not processed in time, leading to her Camhs referral being closed,” said Ms Bambury.

She said this was not a unique case, adding that the girl’s parents were exhausted, frustrated, and financially overburdened.

“They are forced to turn to private care because public services are simply unavailable.”

Ms Bambury raised concerns about the staff shortage at a recent meeting of the HSE South West health forum where it was disclosed that critical shortages included: 17.4 WTEs in speech and language therapy; 15.85 in occupational therapy; 8.30 in psychology; 9.07 in physiotherapy, 1.1 in dietetics; 6.19 in admin; 3.56 in nursing; 5.4 in social work; 1.91 in therapy, and 6.45 in other disciplines

“As of April 2025, 634 children across the region are still awaiting their first CDNT [children’s disability network team] appointment,” said Ms Bambury, who stressed that she was not criticising “the dedicated individuals working tirelessly within these teams”.

“The blame lies squarely with those who have failed to adequately staff these services, forcing overburdened professionals to work within an unsustainable and ineffective system,” Ms Bambury said.

Her motion called on health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and HSE chief executive Bernard Gloster to implement an emergency recruitment scheme with targeted strategies including competitive salaries, fast-track training programmes through university partnerships, and relocation supports for internationally-based therapists. She also suggested the implementation of prioritisation systems based on standardised criteria while offering group therapies or alternative interim supports for less critical cases.

'HIGHER COSTS, WORSE OUTCOMES'

Danny Collins, Independent Ireland councillor in West Cork-Bantry, said over 4,200 children were on the Camhs waiting list across Ireland, with more than 40% of these waiting more than six months. “Lack of early intervention leads to higher costs and worse outcomes for the child and his family,” said Mr Collins.

“Delays in services are costing our country millions — early intervention will save our government 25% more — to be quite honest our children are being failed by the government.”

A HSE South West spokesperson disclosed there were 950 children on the waiting list for Camhs services across the eight Cork community sector teams. The spokesperson said the body was aware of the high demand but underlying factors contributed to waiting times, citing “recruitment difficulties” and “a shortage of Camhs mental health professionals, particularly in rural areas”.