Third of beds vacant at Cork's only child mental health facility

A third of the beds in Munster's only residential mental health service for children and teenagers are vacant due to a consultant psychologist shortage, the HSE has said.

Eist Linn is a specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) facility operated by the HSE and located on the grounds of the Bessborough Centre in Blackrock, Cork city.

It provides acute, intensive, age-appropriate psychiatric assessment, treatment and therapeutic care for young people whose mental health needs cannot be safely met in the community, a HSE spokesperson said.

Accommodation comprises up to 16 single en-suite bedrooms and includes therapy rooms, consultation areas, recreation and activity spaces, outdoor garden areas, and access to on-site educational provision to support continuity of schooling during admission.

Yet it only has bed capacity for 10 at the moment, the HSE confirmed.

The spokesperson said: “This planned reduction is a temporary measure which reflects the safe operational capacity of the unit at present due to the departure of two consultant psychiatrists.

“Recruitment to enhance capacity is actively underway. Once staffing is fully in place, it is the intention to restore capacity to the full complement of 16 beds, in line with safe operational and quality requirements.

“The safety of young people admitted to the unit, and the sustainability of the service for the supra region served by Eist Linn, remain our primary considerations in determining bed capacity.” 

The centre has had long-running staffing problems. 

Annual reports from the Mental Health Commission (MHC) from 2017 to 2024 show that the centre was only compliant in the area of staffing in one of the eight years, 2020.

In 2020, the centre’s operational capacity decreased to 16 registered beds from 20, which it had previously been.

MHC reports show there were 10 children in the centre in 2018 and 2018, 15 in 2019, nine in 2020, 2021 and 2022 and seven in 2023 and 2024.

The 2018 annual report said: “The approved centre was not operating at full capacity as vacant consultant psychiatrist and non-consultant hospital doctor positions had not been filled. The approved centre had never operated at full capacity due to ongoing medical staff shortages.” 

It comes amid long waiting lists for mental health services in Cork, with the latest data showing that 987 children in the HSE South West region, which provides services to people in Cork and Kerry, were waiting to be seen, and 531 of them were waiting over a year as of September 2025.

The information on Eist Linn was provided to Cork Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould, who told The Echo that the reduced service provision was “deeply concerning”.

“We know that there are many young people in Cork who are in crisis – I am speaking to parents regularly who cannot access CAMHS. The closure of these beds could see young people forced to travel to Dublin for treatment or worse, not access treatment at all."

“These are very sick children. They are children who desperately need intervention to have any chance at recovering and living to their full potential. There should be no barriers to their care, and it is deeply worrying that two consultant psychiatrists left this service and were not replaced.” 

Cork Social Democrat TD and former clinical psychologist, Liam Quaide, told The Echo: “Eist Linn supports young people with the most complex mental health difficulties at times of crisis.

“Where consultant posts are unfilled, the HSE is required under legislation and clinical governance standards to reduce inpatient capacity. It is vital that recruitment is pursued with the greatest urgency so that full capacity can be restored as quickly as possible.”